Of Robots and Demigods
by WhiteWinterStar
Summary: Hiro thought Tadashi died in the fire. Both camps thought Leo died when he blew up Gaea. But what if they were wrong? After rescuing Calypso, Leo ends up in San Fransokyo. The two hear about the SFIT robotics showcase, so they decide to go and see it before returning to Camp. But when the building goes up in flames, it's up to our favorite fireproof demigod to save Tadashi's life.
1. Eight months?

All was peaceful. The sky was blue, dotted with fluffy clouds, and birds cheerfully flew about. That is, until they had to dodge out of the path of a fifty-ton giant bronze dragon, whose name happened to be Festus. This dragon was looking quite battered, with dents and scorch marks all over his body. However, the two figures on his back looked quite a bit better.

These two people were named Leo Valdez, the son of Hephaestus, and Calypso, former nymph/goddess of Ogygia. At the moment, they were calm, but as Leo scanned the horizon, he let out a cheer loud enough to wake the entire Hypnos cabin. "Land ahoy!"

"Hmm? Where?" Calypso murmured sleepily. The two had been flying for what seemed like forever, so the girl had been leaning against Leo, dozing.

"Right in front of us, look!" Leo pointed downwards, to where the sea _finally_ met land, which was covered in sloping green hills. Much more impressive, though, was the city they were flying directly towards. Soaring skyscrapers and colorful houses were all waiting behind a massive, red bridge that spanned an equally massive bay. _Is that what I think it is?_ Leo leaned forward, squinting. He'd never been here, but there was only one bridge like that.

"Oh, Leo…" Calypso whispered in an awed voice. "It's amazing."

Leo twisted around to grin at her, and found her smiling as well. "Ready to see the mortal world again, Sunshine?"

"Can this dragon move any faster?"

Leo laughed. "Is that a challenge?" He turned back around. "Festus! Full speed ahead!" The dragon roared in reply, then shot forward faster than any airplane. In seconds they reached land. The city they had ended up in was full of skyscrapers and townhouses, and oddly enough, cherry blossom trees. Huh. "I think I know where we are! San Fransokyo!"

"San _what?_ " Calypso asked incredulously.

"San Fransokyo, the robotics capital of the world! It's just south of San Francisco. That means we're pretty far away from Camp Half-Blood, but it's not as bad as it could be!" What Leo didn't mention was that they were just a short flight from Camp Jupiter—a place Leo really didn't want to pay a surprise visit, considering the last time he was there he'd been possessed by an eidolon and forced to fire on New Rome.

But that was old news! "I'm going to land us in that little park, okay? We'll have a look around and see what's been happening." Leo told Calypso. "Is that all right with you?"

"I'd love to see the city!" Calypso said happily. _Of course she would. I wonder how she'll react to being around so many people, though. She's been stuck on that island for so long._

Leo steered Festus towards the park, which was luckily deserted. Well, except for a very large, very fat cat that hissed and ran away when Festus touched the ground. It was a nice little place, with the emphasis on little. Leo could see buildings and passing cars even at the center, where they'd landed. There was a nice looking fountain, a couple benches, and a kid's playground off to one side. That was it.

"I can't believe it…I'm really off the island." Calypso whispered. She hardly even waited for Festus to crouch, she just jumped off as soon as she could. Leo got off and landed beside her. She turned to him, her eyes shining. "Leo, thank you…thank you! You did what no hero ever could. I'm free!" She flew at Leo, enveloping him in a tight hug.

"Okay, okay! Don't suffocate your favorite hero!" Leo laughed. "Good to be somewhere new, then?"

Calypso nodded. Then, she leaned even closer and kissed Leo on the mouth. He shrank back in surprise before accepting it, and the two of them remained locked together for what felt like forever, bit was probably no more than half a minute. Then Calypso pulled back and left them both grinning like idiots. Leo probably looked like more of an idiot, but at least there wasn't anyone around to see.

"Should we—should we go, then?" Leo stuttered.

"Yes, of course." She let go of Leo, but kept hold of his hand. "What's the plan?"

"Exploring!" Leo said brightly. "Festus, stay here in sleep mode. We'll be back in a few hours."

The dragon creaked in reply, then laid his head on the floor and his ruby eyes dimmed. Then hand in hand, Leo and Calypso started down one of the short park paths and entered the city. Nearly a second after they left the trees, a girl went hurtling by on a bike. "Watch it!" She yelled to them.

 _How can she go that fast uphill? Was that even a normal bicycle?_ Leo wondered. Maybe it had been enhanced somehow, or maybe that speedy girl had just been a really good athlete.

"That was an odd contraption." Calypso observed.

Leo shrugged. "Yeah, it was a bike. As you can see, it's faster than walking."

Just then a car passed them on the road, and Calypso's eyes widened. "I see the mortals have invented many new things. You know what? Don't tell me about all of it. I want to find out for myself." Her eyes were shining with anticipation.

"If you want, sure." _Just imagine her face when she sees an airplane for the first time!_ Leo laughed inwardly. "Now, I'd say we should get food, but we don't have any money. So exploring really is all we can do, unless you want to pay tribute to Hermes." By that, Leo meant stealing.

"Exploring is more than enough." Calypso agreed, and so they started walking again.

They passed more and more people as they headed into what looked like a shopping district. Leo didn't know how long they wandered, but he didn't care. Calypso looked at everything with such amazement and shock it was pretty impossible to be bored. They made a game out of her trying to guess the function of modern objects, and she actually got most of them right. _Beautiful and smart._ Leo wondered how he'd gotten so lucky.

The sun had started to sink when they stopped for a break in front of a café called "The Lucky Cat". Leo could see all kinds of pastries being sold in the crowded store, which made his stomach growl with longing. Oh, well. At least he'd had a good afternoon.

"I don't think I've seen a lot of those things before." Calypso commented, staring into the window beside him. "Are they all desserts?"

"Most of it. Sure looks good, huh?" Leo sighed. "Too bad neither of us have any money."

"True. And did you not say that it would take a couple days to get to Camp Half-Blood? What will we do for food until then?"

"I can probably find something for us, somehow." Leo hadn't needed to do it for a while, but his tool belt could produce food. Jason and Piper had really liked his tacos—man, he wished he had that cornucopia right now.

"What was that?" A woman's voice asked from behind them. Leo turned and saw that it was a woman, middle aged with short brown hair. She was carrying some shopping bags.

"Oh, we were just talking about the stuff in that café. It looks good, but we're totally broke." Leo shrugged.

"No, that part about not being able to get food and going on a trip. Are you two kids all right?" The woman asked, a note of motherly concern in her voice.

"It's nothing. We should probably get going, we—"

"Nonsense!" The woman cut Leo off. "Come on inside, the café isn't _too_ busy right now. I'm closing early for the showcase anyway. My name is Cass Hamada."

"It's all right, really, we—" Cass waved off Calypso's protest.

"I'm the owner here. If I want to treat two nice kids then I can. What are your names?" They introduced themselves quickly, and then Cass started walking past them, up the small steps to the café door. "Aren't you coming?"

Leo and Calypso shared a look. Leo shrugged and nodded after her. Who was he to turn down free food? And this lady didn't seem like any kind of monster. So, they followed her in.

Oh man, the way that bakery _smelled!_ Chocolate and sugar and coffee all at once…it was enough to satisfy any hyperactive demigod's wildest dreams.

"Just sit down at a table, I'll be with you in a second!" Cass called. "Just let me put this stuff away."

Leo entertained himself by people watching. A girl in her twenties was working at the register, this old lady in an uncomfortably revealing outfit was sipping coffee by the window, and various others populated the room.

Calypso was inspecting their surroundings too. "People here are so odd." She said. "And the clothes are different too."

"Not from around here, huh?" Cass asked, once again appearing behind them. She set down a plate with four awesome looking bagels on it, as well as two glasses of water. "Here. These are leftover from this morning, but they should still taste all right."

"Thank you, ma'am. And no, I'm actually from Greece." Calypso said politely.

"What about you, Leo?"

"I grew up in Houston but I live in New York now. Long Island, actually." He said with a smile, thinking of Camp.

"You're both pretty far from home. That must be hard."

Leo shrugged. "I'm used to being in new places." Considering all the times he'd run away and all the random towns he'd visited on quests, Leo felt like an accomplished world explorer. "At least you speak English here."

Cass laughed at that. "It sounds like you get into as much trouble as my nephew Hiro. He's younger than you but he got himself _arrested_ a couple weeks ago."

Now it was Leo's turn to snort, but he tried to hide it. After all, mortals had no _idea_ the troubles a demigod went through. "Arrested, huh?"

"Yes, but hopefully he won't be doing anything illegal anymore. He's actually entering an invention at his older brother's college tonight."

"What kind of invention?" Leo asked curiously. This was San Fransokyo, after all. Who knew what kind of cool tech it might be?

"I'm not too sure, they've been very secretive about it. But if you want to see, come to the showcase tonight. All the robotics students are showing off their work. I think I have a flyer here…" Cass reached into her back pocket. "Ah, here we go! All the info is on there. Come if you want, but enjoy your food first!"

Leo hastily unfolded the paper. "This will be _awesome,_ Calypso. We can stay and go to this, then get an early start tomorrow morning."

"Let me see." She leaned over. "SFIT? What is that?"

"San Fransokyo Institute of Technology, that's the school name. Let's see, it starts at eight o'clock, then…" Leo trailed off when something on the paper caught his eye. That couldn't be the date, right? There had to be some kind of typo.

"What's wrong?" Calypso asked, probably noticing Leo's shock.

"Th-the date on the paper." Leo stammered. "The battle with Gaia happened on August first."

"So?"

"It says April fifth. _April._ " He turned and looked directly into her eyes. "Calypso, I've been gone for more than eight months!"

 **Yes, the girl on the bike was GoGo.  
** **And fair warning, the first five or so chapters will be pretty much just him and Calypso.  
We'll meet Hiro and Tadashi next time, but...well, I'll leave that up to your imagination.  
Please review!**


	2. One Hot Night

"It's hard to believe almost a year has passed…" Leo mumbled, staring at the poster on the building in front of him. It matched the flyer Cass had handed him at the café. _San Fransokyo Institute of Technology Spring showcase, April 5 at 8:00pm! Come see the mind blowing inventions our students have to offer!_ There was a clock tower nearby it that read 8:45. Just beyond them, a building glowed with lights, and cheers could be heard, like something amazing was going on.

It had taken a while for the shock to wear off. They had eaten quickly and left, because Leo was on the verge of a major freak out. He didn't know what to think. He'd left everyone for so long! Calypso had tried to calm him down. She suggested going to see the showcase as a distraction.

"A single year is not so long." Calypso comforted, laying a hand on his shoulder. "Your friends will understand."

"I know that, but…they must think I'm dead." Leo sighed. "How could I abandon them for so long? We should be flying Festus straight to Long Island."

"You said it yourself that you wanted to think things over before going back. We have the rest of our lives to be with your friends, so let's enjoy the moment. Is this celebration not a lucky chance for us?" Calypso asked with a gentle smile, which Leo returned.

"Yeah. You're right…It'll be just one more story to tell when we get home. Let's go!" Leo's tiny smile morphed into a wild grin. He grabbed Calypso's wrist and charged towards the building.

When he saw what was inside, his jaw dropped. And that was saying a lot for Leo, who built a giant bronze dragon _inside_ a magical flying ship. These inventions were amazing!

A huge crowd had gathered at one end of the exhibition hall, and they were all fawning over something a short boy was presenting. _Lots of moving parts…they look like ants._ Leo mused. _Wait…oh my gods!_ Each of those tiny things was a robot, he realized as the black specks changed shape. The kid, who was probably the inventor, bowed. Leo couldn't really hear what he was saying, but he caught one word. "Microbots!"

With that, the presentation was over and the crowd began to disperse. Leo turned to Calypso excitedly. "Did you see that? So many parts! I have to figure out how he made them work together."

"I would like to know as well. But let us take our time! From the looks of it, that boy isn't going anywhere soon." She gestured to where the crown had been, and sure enough the boy was in conversation with two older men. Standing beside him was another teenager that might have been his brother. Whatever the topic was, it looked serious. Leo nodded, giving a word of agreement to his girlfriend. Man, saying that was _weird_. Leo never got the girl! Especially the one who was smart and beautiful and… _Okay, Leo, snap out of it. You're turning into an Aphrodite kid. Let's focus on all this cool tech and not make a total fool out of ourselves..._

And truly, the robotics projects were as amazing as Leo had heard. Since he was a kid he'd dreamed of visiting San Fransokyo. Forget Silicon Valley, this city was the number one tech hotspot in the world. The inventions all varied incredibly, from a pair of mechanical arms to someone running underwater to a cat wearing rocket boots—those were awesome! Leo was right in the middle of inspecting them when somebody bumped into him.

"Huh? Oh, sorry, man. Didn't see you there." Said an Asian-looking boy who looked three or four years older than Leo. Next to him was a messy haired kid that looked like he was his brother.

Leo raised an eyebrow. "That supposed to be a short joke or something?" He teased. The other guy had at least six inches on him.

The younger one laughed. "Jeez, Tadashi, you're so rude."

"I wasn't—oh, shut up, Hiro." Tadashi sighed. "We need to go find Aunt Cass and the others and tell them you're in. Bye!" He called, leading Hiro towards the doors.

"What odd names." Calypso commented, "Still, they seemed close."

"Yeah." Leo agreed, then shrugged. "Wait, they said Aunt Cass! Those guys must have been her nephews."

"They did not look very alike."

Leo shrugged. "Probably someone of a different race on the other side of their family. It's pretty common here. Come on, let's keep looking. All this tech is amazing!"

And indeed, the two saw a lot of marvels that night. Leo couldn't help thinking that with a little Celestial Bronze and a bit of magic, these inventions could be turned into super awesome demigod tools. They wandered around for over an hour, and Leo probably would have stayed until he was kicked out, but Calypso reminded him that they were going to get an early start tomorrow. Even on the best metal dragon in the world the trip to Camp Half-Blood would take a while. Jupiter was closer, but as Leo had accidentally fired on New Rome last time he was there, he thought flying in unannounced on another fiery war machine wouldn't be the best idea.

"What are you going to do?" Calypso asked suddenly as they were walking across the school grounds. They were mostly deserted, with the occasional person who was, like them, leaving the showcase. The path was lit by lampposts every so often.

"Huh?" Leo replied, returning his attention to her. In the dim lamplight, her face seemed unusually serious. She stopped walking, waiting for his answer.

"When we go back. You said that with Festus, we would reach the Camp within two days. I know you're excited about it, but have you thought about what you're going to say?"

Leo sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He'd been so focused on getting back to New York that he hasn't really thought about it. "Apart from charging in of Festus, I don't really know. I mean, its April now. The war with Gaea ended on August first. They must have thought I was dead all this time...I can't just pop up one day and go 'Sorry, guys, got lost'!"

"You're right to want to return." Calypso took his hand. "They are mourning you even now. And the only way to remedy that is to go home."

"I know that, it's just…I've left a lot of places behind. But I've never actually gone _back_ to one. Percy was missing for a while, yeah, but at least they had some kind of news from Jason. I've been gone longer and I'll bet they know nothing. I want to get back as fast as possible but I'm not sure what to do."

"Just tell them your story. I know it seems hard now, but did you not take out three full grown Cyclopes with only that tool belt once? Any hero who can do that can handle a little reunion."

Leo smiled at her praise. He'd told her the story of his first quest when they were flying back from Ogygia. "Thanks, Calypso. First thing tomorrow we'll fly back east, and once we get to camp—"

Leo was cut off by loud screaming. "What's going on?" He demanded, looking around for the source of the noise. Could it be a monster attack?

"Back there! The exhibition hall!" Calypso pointed back the way they'd come, alarm in her eyes. Leo followed her gaze and cursed when he realized what was wrong.

The hall, which they had left not ten minutes ago, was _on fire._ Leo could see the flames from here, and the insane amounts of black smoke drifting into the sky. "How did that happen so fast?" He cried. _I didn't even use my powers! Why does stuff like this always have to happen?_

"What do we do?" Calypso asked, waiting for his decision. Leo _was_ the fire guy, after all.

"There's no time. Someone has to help, come on!" And so the couple dashed back across the school campus, dodging the occasional panicking civilian. They skidded to a stop in front of the building. Lots of others were standing around in horror, watching the blaze as what looked to be the last of the showcase attendees fled down the steps. Flames shone through the glass, no doubt consuming everything inside. Leo grimaced, this was bad.

He saw Cass's nephews running up as well. They seemed to be fine. The older one intercepted a woman who'd just exited the hall. Leo couldn't hear exactly what she was saying, but he did catch the words "Still in there." The woman then ran off, and the brothers shared a look. The older one, Tadashi, said something his brother clearly didn't like.

"Tadashi, _no!"_ The boy yelled.

"Callaghan's still in there. Someone has to help." And without another word, Tadashi ran towards the flames. _What an idiot! With a fire that powerful, the entire building could collapse at any moment!_

Calypso had watched the two as well. She turned to Leo, waiting for an answer.

"The guy's going to get himself killed, hero complex or not. I'm going after him." Leo told her, sounding a lot braver than he felt. Sure, the fire wasn't a problem, but he'd spent enough time with Annabeth to know about buildings, and he wasn't immune to falling debris. One wrong step and he'd be a Leo pancake.

"You're not going in there alone." Calypso told him.

Leo bit his lip. Sure, he didn't want to leave her alone, but he _had_ to go. "I have the best chance of making it out with the mortals trapped inside. I'm the only one for the job."

Calypso was torn, Leo could see that much. "Still, if it were to fall, it would take a miracle to dig you out…wait!" Her face lit up with an idea. "I will get Festus. If anything goes wrong, he can move through the fire to get you."

Leo grinned. His luck was terrible, so even if all went well the mortal police would probably blame the fire on him. Festus would make for a great escape. "Perfect. I'll see you in a bit, then."

Calypso gazed at him seriously for a moment, and before Leo noticed what was happening, she pulled him close and kissed him on the mouth. She pulled away a second later and gave him a dark smile. "You're coming back to me, all right?"

Leo laughed. "Don't I always, sunshine?"

"Get going, demigod."

Leo nodded and turned away from her, making a mad dash for the exhibition hall. He heard the mortals shouting at him to stay away, that it wasn't safe, but he ignored them. Leo crashed through the doors and raked his eyes over the scene, which didn't look good at all. Flames roared everywhere, and there was the occasional crash as something collapsed. "Anyone here? Yo, Tadashi! Answer me!"

There was no reply. Leo moved through the building as quick as he could (which was very quick indeed), but the flames kept getting hotter and more intense. He might be fine, but anyone else would be in an insane amount of pain, from either burns or smoke inhalation. Soon there wouldn't be any space that wasn't occupied by roaring flames.

Suddenly, Leo heard a loud groaning noise. He raked his eyes all over the scene before spotting it—a portion of the roof was starting to bend inwards. And also…standing right under that spot… _No, no, no! Tadashi!_

"Get out of the—" Leo's desperate yell was cut off when everything around him froze. For a minute, so did he. _What the heck?_ He thought when he could move again. The flames were frozen like crazy glass sculptures and Leo couldn't hear a thing. Out of nowhere, a plume of black smoke erupted in front of him. From it emerged a huge, misshapen figure.

It was Leo's father, Hephaestus. Leo watched him suspiciously. After all he'd been through, immortals randomly showing up to meet him set him on edge. Even if that immortal was his father. The two stared each other down for a second, Hephaestus's eyes inspecting Leo critically. Then the god let out a short laugh and grinned at Leo. "It's good to see you back, kid."

"What?" Leo still had no idea what was going on. His return wasn't special enough for a god to welcome him home, so what was Hephaestus doing here?

"Everyone's been worried about you. You were gone for quite a while…but this isn't the time for that, we can talk more when you're a bit closer to home. I hate for this to be the first thing I've got to do when you've only just made it back, but Leo, I have a favor to ask."

 _Of course. He'd never just stop by and say hello._ Leo thought bitterly. "What is it? In case you didn't notice, I'm kind of in the middle of something."

"I did notice. That's why I'm here." Hephaestus answered. "You need to save that boy."

"Which I was already doing…"

Hephaestus rolled his eyes. "He'll be badly hurt even if you hurry. But don't let him go to a mortal hospital—he needs demigod treatment."

Ooookay. Leo was fine with that kind of mission. "So he's a half-blood? My brother, probably, am I right?"

"That's it. Tadashi Hamada is my son. His little brother Hiro is too, but he is safe for now, so he can wait. When Calypso gets here with that dragon of yours, take him straight to the Roman camp. He's a Greek, but there isn't enough time to get him to Long Island."

That, Leo had a bit of an issue with. He got the feeling that if the saw the spectacular Valdez show up on another highly dangerous war machine, they wouldn't take too kindly to his visit. Seeing the hesitation on his face, Hephaestus shook his head. "Don't worry about them, they won't attack you. They know they've got a visitor coming."

"Visitor?" Leo questioned.

"There's no time now, we'll talk later. Anyway, once you get there, you'll find a quicker way to New York than Festus. Roman medicine is all well and good, but Tadashi belongs at Camp Half-Blood. And…yeah, that's all you need to know." Hephaestus nodded to himself. "Feeling up to the challenge?"

 _Oh, you went missing for over eight months? Too bad. Well, now that you're back, do this for me._ As much as it irritated Leo that he had been given a job so soon, he nodded. It was another demigod, his half-brother that needed help. There really wasn't much choice. "Rescue Tadashi, take him to Camp Jupiter, meet with our mysterious form of transportation, and get him to Camp Half-Blood. Easy." _Considering the last godly errand I was sent on, this is a piece of cake._

"That's it. You'll need to come back for his brother eventually, but for now just get Tadashi out of here." With that final confirmation, Leo's father began to fade and the flames started flickering again. Just before he disappeared, Hephaestus added one last statement: "And Leo? Everyone's missed you. A lot."

With that, his father disappeared. Leo was alone amidst the now roaring flames. A loud groaning noise reminded him of the danger—part of the roof was collapsing! And Tadashi was right under it!

Leo searched frantically for the demigod, but he couldn't see him through the smoke now, which was growing thicker by the second. That is, until he heard Tadashi calling out.

"Professor Callaghan? Where are you? Professor, we've got to go!" _There_ he was!

Leo dashed forward, yelling as loud as he could, "Tadashi! _Get out of the way!_ "

Tadashi spun around quickly, probably alarmed at the thought of _another_ person being in the burning building. But just as the two locked eyes, the roof gave way with an almighty crash. Concrete and drywall and metal rained down upon the two teens, and Leo heard Tadashi scream.

Something heavy knocked Leo to the floor, stunning him for a minute. He came back to his senses a moment later, and spit out a mouthful of nasty-tasting ashes. That heavy thing, which Leo realized was a metal support beam from the roof, was still lying on top of his shoulders. Oh, and look at that, it was on fire. Joy. At least he didn't seem to have broken any bones. _But I'll bet I'm going to have a massive headache tomorrow._ Still, it was probably way worse for…

 _"Tadashi!"_ Leo cried in alarm, shoving the beam off him and scrambling up as fast as he could. His vision swam, but he didn't care. "Can you hear me? Where are you?"

The entire layout of the building had changed in the last few minutes. Apart from the gaping hole in the roof, there were now dangerously unstable obstacles and flaming piles of rubble everywhere. The roar of the flames was so loud now that Leo doubted he'd be able to hear Tadashi's reply. If Tadashi still could reply, that is.

Miraculously, he heard an unmistakably human groan coming from somewhere nearby. "Tadashi? Where are you, man? I'll get you out!"

"I'm…here." The other boy said with a cough. _He doesn't sound so good…_

"Just hold on! Don't try to move, I'm coming!" Leo called back to him. He moved forward more carefully this time, not wanting to make anything else fall on Tadashi. Everything was unstable now.

 _Where_ is _he?_ Leo wondered as he circled the pile of debris. There was no sign of Tadashi in there. "You still with me, man?" Leo asked the wreckage. Nothing. _If I don't find him soon, he'll be…_ "There!" Leo finished his thought out loud, running forward when he saw what had to be a hand sticking out from under the pile. Leo shoved aside a flaming piece of drywall and several charred bits of something-or-other, finally stopping when he uncovered most of Tadashi's upper body.

He didn't look very good. The older boy's face seemed largely okay, but his arms were covered in cuts, bruises, and burns. His jacket was smoldering, and he was unconscious. _This is bad, this is_ bad… _I need to get him out of here._ Leo stepped past Tadashi to shift the rest of the debris off him, but a large metal beam was trapping his legs and it was way too heavy for Leo to lift. It was lying on top of even more rubble. Leo would probably be able to pull Tadashi out of that, but with the beam trapping him it was impossible. Still, he tried anyway.

It was no use. Leo tried about fifty different ways, not mo matter how hard he strained the beam refused to move. _Come on, come on, he doesn't have much time…_ The fire was all around them now.

"Leo!" A voice shouted from above. Leo looked up, and laughed in relief when he saw who it was—Calypso, riding in on Festus to save the day. Dang, that girl was amazing. They hovered around the hole in the roof, which was just large enough for Festus to move through. "Are you all right?

"I'm fine. But the roof fell on this kid, and I can't get him out! I need Festus to move this beam here. Just lift it up a bit and I'll get him out! Be careful, though, he's hurt really bad!"

"Got it!" Calypso answered. Leo moved back a few steps so he wouldn't get conked on the head by one of Festus's massive wings. The dragon inched forward, his front legs extending to grab the beam. His giant claws closed around it, and Calypso eased him backward with a look of severe concentration. The beam jerked with every wingbeat, jostling the wreckage underneath it, and also Tadashi.

When there was enough room, Leo dashed forward and grabbed Tadashi's arms, pulling him away from the file of flaming rubble. "I've got him! Can you land for a second? We need to get him out of here!" Leo felt bad asking that, as Calypso wasn't immune to fire, but that was the only way to get Tadashi out quick enough.

Calypso didn't seem to mind. "Let me find a clear spot!" She called back to him, and then had Festus release the beam. While she went about landing a giant metal dragon in a very crowded building, Leo inspected Tadashi.

Man, he did _not_ look good. His jacket and shirt had been largely destroyed, revealing large burns on his back and equally bad ones on his arms. His legs looked better, but they were bloody and one of them might have been broken. And with it being so hard to see, Leo was probably missing a lot of injuries. Tadashi needed a healer _now._

"Over here, come on!" Calypso jolted him out of his worried inspection. She had grounded Festus maybe twenty feet away, but couldn't get off and help in fear of being burned. Even being as high up as she was, the flames were swirling way too close. Leo nodded to her, then pulled Tadashi into his arms and lifted him bridal style. It would probably hurt like crazy for the burns to be touched like that, but Leo couldn't manage it any other way. Tadashi was heavier than he looked.

He made his way over slowly, trying not to trip. As he reached Festus, the dragon crouched as low as possible to allow him to get on. "Here, help me get him up!"

Calypso leaned down and grabbed Tadashi's shoulders, pulling him up as best she could. Leo pushed him up, and soon the unconscious boy was lying across Calypso's lap. Leo scrambled up himself, sitting right in front. That way Calypso could concentrate on not dropping Tadashi while Leo navigated.

"We're taking him with us, I'll explain in a minute. Are you ready?" Leo asked.

"Go, go!"

Leo pulled on the retractable reins, making his dragon stand tall. "Festus, up and away! Get us out of here!"

The dragon crouched again, then with a massive jerk, launched himself skyward through the hole in the roof. Leo vaguely heard the mortals gasping and screaming, but he had no idea what they were seeing. Maybe a giant gush of smoke or some kind of explosion. With each beat of Festus's massive wings they rose high above the fire. Leo let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding.

"What now?" Calypso asked. "This boy needs medical attention. I can try to sing for him, but my magic cannot heal such extensive wounds."

"Can you keep him stable for maybe a half hour?" Leo asked.

"Probably, but why? Who is he, and where are we taking him?"

"We're headed north. To Camp Jupiter—to the Romans." Leo sighed. _I really didn't want to go back there unannounced, but we have no choice._

"Is he a demigod?" Calypso questioned quietly.

"Yeah. According to Hephaestus, this guy…Tadashi is my brother. And he needs our help."

 **Wow. 4,038 words without this little note.  
** **That's the longest fanfic chapter I've ever written!  
** **Anyway, thanks to all of you that followed and favorited, and even more love to those who reviewed!  
** **Wasn't this chapter HOT?  
Who could their mysterious ride to Camp Half-blood be? The faster you review the faster you find out!  
Until next time, my lovelies!**


	3. Off to Camp Jupiter

Nico Di Angelo was asleep. That in itself was rare, but the truly spectacular thing was that he wasn't even dreaming. Just peaceful, quiet—

"Hey, kid! Anybody in there?" A voice asked from nowhere. Suddenly Nico's awareness filled with color. Well, not color, but a lot of grayish white mist. But the person standing in front of him was important enough to make up for that. (Not that he needed to know.) The stranger was dressed in a navy blue jogging suit, with a cell phone in his hand and wings on his sneakers.

"Hermes?" Nico groaned. "What is it now? I was sleeping!"

The god chuckled. Now, is that any way to greet someone?"

"It is when you interrupt my sleep. What's the problem? If it's a message from my dad why didn't he just send one of the furies or something?" Nico rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and tried to focus on the messenger god.

"I didn't _really_ interrupt your sleep, this is a dream." At Nico's unamused glare, Hermes continued, "And this message isn't from the underworld. It's from Hephaestus."

"What? Why him?" Apart from the celebration on Mount Olympus after the war ended, neither Nico nor any of the other demigods had heard news from Hephaestus. No new kids of his had shown up in the past eight months, either. What reason could he have for contacting Nico, of all people? Unless… _No, it can't be_ him. _It's been way to long, his soul has probably been reborn by now._

"He needs you to bring a couple of his kids to Camp Half-Blood. One of them is hurt really badly, and there isn't time for them to make it here. He wants you to shadow travel them to camp." Hermes answered.

 _Oh. Well, I guess that makes sense. I'm faster than the pegasi, and it has been a while since I traveled. If it's not too far I can probably do it._ Nico sighed. "All right, I'll do it. How many are there? And where are they?"

"Two of Hephaestus's kids, and one extra. As for location…they're in California."

Nico shook his head immediately. "I can't go there and back, even in jumps it's too far! If there really is an injured demigod, I wouldn't make it there in time."

Hermes nodded. "I thought you might say that. I heard about your little dissolving issue." Nico winced—how did Hermes know? The god ignored his distress and reached into one of his pockets. "But don't worry, you're covered. I'm doing this as a favor to Hephaestus. Here, take this." Hermes held out a necklace with what looked like a tiny caduceus on it. Nico took the pendant and looked at it closely. It seemed to be just a regular bit of jewelry, but he could feel it pulsing with power, giving him the desire to get up and explore new places. "That necklace holds a tiny bit of my power over the roads. When you wear it, your abilities of magical travel will increase. I don't know how much, but it should be enough to get you there and back. You can keep it, but don't abuse it or the necklace will break. Then you'll develop an uncontrollable need to travel and you'll never be able to settle down."

Nico blinked. This was a pretty generous gift just to go help a random group of demigods. Even the downside didn't sound too bad. "Why are you giving this to me?"

"So you can rescue them."

"But it…what makes this injured demigod so special?"

"Oh!" Hermes laughed. "It's not the injured one. One of the others did the gods a great service and never got rewarded. Getting him home sooner is just our way of saying thanks. Now put it on, put it on. There isn't much time."

 _Son of Hephaestus…did the gods a great service…_ Nico had a growing suspicion now. He slipped the necklace over his head. "Where can I find these three?"

"They'll meet you at Camp Jupiter. I suggest you hurry up and get there first, to give the Romans a bit of warning. When those three arrive it is sure to be…conspicuous. Well, good talk, son of Hades, good talk! Unfortunately, I must be going. It's a miracle George and Martha stayed quiet this long…"

And before Nico could ask what a bunch of Greeks would be doing at Camp Jupiter, Hermes dissolved in a flash of white light. And the next thing he knew, he was falling out of bed in the Hades cabin. His head slammed against the black stone floor, and he cursed.

 _Damn the gods and their random quests!_ Nico huffed. Then he shook his head. "What am I complaining for? I need to hurry." If one of those demigods really was _him_ …yeah, that thought made Nico get out of bed a lot faster. Oh, and the injured one. That was important too.

He was already wearing black sweatpants, and the necklace Hermes gave him had unsurprisingly appeared around his neck, so he threw on a t-shirt, slipped on his sneakers, grabbed his ring—which was also his sword—and ran out the door. The moon was high, it was probably only a couple hours after midnight. Nico creeped over to the Apollo cabin as fast as he could. If there really was an injured demigod, he knew just who to bring. Nico came to a stop crouched just outside one of the windows, which had been left cracked open. _That'll make things easier. Thank the gods he sleeps right by the window._

"Will!" Nico hissed. "Wake up! It's an emergency!"

Yes, Will Solace, senior counselor for the Apollo cabin and also Nico's boyfriend—though that had only happened two months ago, and not many people knew about it. Nico preferred it that way.

The blonde just groaned and rolled over. Nico was ready to smack himself in frustration. "Will! Come _on!_ "

"Hmmnnn…nnn…Wait, Nico?" The older boy whispered sleepily. "What are you doing here?"

"Meet me outside and I'll explain. Somebody's hurt—no, don't wake your siblings up!" Nico told him, "It has to be just us, and we have to move fast."

"Okay…give me two minutes." Nico nodded and stepped away from the window while Will got dressed.

A moment later the teen appeared in the doorway of his cabin, wearing shorts and a camp shirt, with a small bag slung over his shoulder. "Just some emergency supplies." He explained. "Now, what the heck is going on? It's three in the morning!"

Quickly, Nico recounted his dream of Hermes and the job he'd been given. He pulled the necklace out of his shirt and showed it to Will. "So we have to get to Camp Jupiter as soon as we can."

"Nico, are you sure?" Will was giving him a concerned look. "That's a huge distance; I don't think you've ever gone that far in one jump. And doing it twice is a lot of work."

"That's why Hermes gave me this, I told you already! It will amplify my shadow travel power so I can get there and back with those demigods." Nico explained impatiently. "Weren't you listening?"

"I was, I was. I'm just worried about you." Will said with an embarrassed shrug.

"Don't go soft on me now, Solace. We _have_ to go. Come on." Nico said impatiently, and grabbed his boyfriend's hand. The shadows of the cabin would make a good starting point…

"Don't get me wrong, I'm loving the whole hero thing, but why are you so excited about going to help a bunch of strangers?" Will asked.

Nico shrugged. "I'm not sure, but the way Hermes was talking, something about one of these demigods doing Olympus a great service—it made me think…there's only one son of Hephaestus I know that fits that description."

Will's eyes widened. "You don't think—but he's dead!"

"There's only one way to find out." Nico tugged Will towards the shadow on the side of his cabin. "We have to go and get him."

"Then after you, Death Boy." Will gestured to the darkness.

Nico rolled his eyes at the stupid nickname, but he didn't retort like he normally would have. He had something more important to do. "It's about time Leo Valdez came home"

* * *

They soared, with many sloping hills and small towns that glittered with light on their right. On the left there was the ocean. Leo had decided to follow the coast up north, as that would be quickest. "How is he?" Leo called back. Calypso had been keeping up a constant hum as they flew north, trying to help Tadashi out.

"Still breathing. I can't do much, though. He needs more help than I can give." She answered gravely. "How close are we?"

"Just another minute." Leo informed. He scanned the horizon. "There, you see? That giant cluster of lights. Camp Jupiter should be on the inland side."

"Hurry!"

Leo didn't respond, just leaned forward a little as he sped Festus up as fast as he could. It wasn't max speed, because he didn't want to hurt Tadashi even more, but Festus still shot across the landscape like a giant bronze bullet. San Francisco was just a blur below them when they finally flew over it. Then Leo began looking for a dark spot in the hills. Camp Jupiter wouldn't have much electrical lighting, so it should be easy to spot. _Almost there, almost there…_ "I see it!" He pointed excitedly. "Just there, see that valley without the lights?"

"Yes!"

"That's where we're headed! Festus, circle around while I look for a good place to land. Go a bit lower so I can see. Let's hope they don't have archers shoot us out of the sky…" Leo added the last bit under his breath. Despite his father's reassurance, he really didn't think arriving at Camp Jupiter unannounced in the middle of the night was a great idea.

As they made it to the outer part of the valley, Leo began to see the torches. Here and there, they lit up the barracks. On the other side, even more lights glittered in the village.

"There are so many houses." Calypso mused, probably looking at New Rome. "They can't all be demigods, can they?"

"No. Jason told me that lots of them are legacies, the descendants of half-bloods. The barracks are for active legionnaires, and that village on the other side of the valley is where the older ones and their families live."

"And the mortals have no idea?"

"None. The Mist hides it, like it hides Camp Half Blood."

Leo and Calypso gazed at the Roman valley, Calypso in wonder and Leo in resignation. It looked like they'd repaired the damage he did, but that wasn't surprising. The Romans could build faster than anyone. There didn't seem to be anyone moving around the city. But in between the barracks...what was going on? One...two...three...four people were running through the buildings. Those three disappeared into a big, official looking building shaped like a wedge. _We should probably land there...but that's a lot of demigods with a lot of weapons. Oh, well. Nothing for it!_

"Did you see those three? If there are people already awake, that's where we should go." Leo pointed to the wedge building. It looked like there were a couple torches out front, illuminating a purple banner.

"I'm ready when you are!" Calypso answered back, shifting her grip on Tadashi. "Take us down!"

"You heard the lady, Festus! Stealth mode, right there!" Leo pointed to the wedge building, and the medium sized yard in front of it. Festus creaked in response, and began to circle lower and lower. It would take longer, but Leo didn't want to wake anybody up if he could avoid it. _If they haven't spotted us yet, I don't think they will. It's such a clear night._

Festus touched down with a groan. Dang, he really needed some maintenance. Leo had been planning it, but it would have to wait till later. At least Festus was still in working order, even if he was a bit melted in some places. The dragon crouched low again and Leo hopped off.

"Pass him down to me!" Leo whispered.

"No, I can do it!" Calypso swung a leg over Festus so that she was facing him. She then slid down Festus's body and landed heavily on her feet, Tadashi in her arms. Carefully, she laid him on the ground. Leo grinned.

"Nice job, sunshine! Now we just need to—" Leo noticed that Calypso was staring behind him, alarm in her eyes. "What is it? Who..." Leo turned, and found five sets of eyes staring at him. "Oh. H-hey, guys. Nice night, huh?"

The youngest girl's eyes filled with tears and she ran at him, hugging the air right out of his body. "It's you. It's really you...Oh, Leo!"

"Um, hi, Hazel." Leo patted her awkwardly on the back. He glanced at the remaining four and smiled tentatively. He recognized Frank, Nico, Reyna, and…was that one of the Apollo kids from back home? What was his name, Wallace? Warren? Oh, Will. That was it. What was he doing here? "Hey, guys. Miss me?"

"You idiot!" Frank said. The big guy didn't look mad, he was...holding back tears. He closed the gap and joined in on the hug Leo party, crushing Leo's ribs even further. "Eight months? _Eight months?_ We all thought you were dead!"

"This one will be soon if we don't hurry up." Calypso warned from behind them.

For the first time the others seemed to notice the two people Leo had arrived with.

"Come inside." Reyna offered quietly. "It seems we have a lot to talk about."

 **Woo woo another chapter down.** **Leo will find out about Nico eventually, but IDK when, since it's not really one of the main points of the story.** **If anyone has an idea for that, I'd love to hear it.** **Also I'm going to a water park today. It has nothing to do with the story, but I felt like sharing.  
**

 **Please review!**


	4. Return to Camp Half-Blood

**I had quite a few people ask me about Hiro. Yes, he will be in this story, and yes, he will have a pretty major part to play, but that won't happen for quite a while. Just to confirm, yes he is a son of Hephaestus. He is also one of Athena's favorites because he is so smart. She didn't bless him with intelligence, but she admires his skill and watches over him from time to time. That's what I decided. Since you all wanted to see him so bad, here's a little bit of our favorite boy genius. Enjoy, and please review when you finish!**

"Tadashi, _no!_ " Hiro yelled, but it was already too late. His brother was already inside the burning exhibition hall. _No…no! He'll never make it out in time!_

He heard footsteps to his left, and saw a kid that couldn't be much older than him running towards the fire as well. "No, don't!" Hiro cried after him. "You won't make it!" The boy either didn't hear him or didn't care. He ran into the flames like he was born to do it.

The hardest part was the waiting. Hiro just stood there and stared, waiting for something, for any kind of sign that his brother was coming. And then—a massive crash. It must have been the roof, which meant… " _Tadashi!_ " Hiro screamed. He had to be all right, he had to be, he promised he'd always be there for Hiro…

Nobody came running out the doors. Hiro heard a pounding and at first he thought it must have been his heartbeat, but then he looked up and saw this, this… _thing_ enter the exhibition hall from the newly made hole in the roof. Through all the billowing smoke and darkness, Hiro couldn't exactly tell what it was. He looked around to see if anyone else had noticed, but nothing had changed. Nobody was screaming about a giant monster, he must have just been seeing things in the smoke—but there it was again! The giant flying creature was rising into the sky. _Am I the only one who can see it?_ He wondered. _I must be. Either that or I'm going crazy._ He needed to focus on more important stuff, like what had happened to his brother _._

Because there's no way a dragon would appear in the middle of San Fransokyo, right?

* * *

"So after Hephaestus told me that, the roof collapsed. I pulled him out of the wreck, but he was hurt pretty badly. Calypso came in through the hole in the roof on Festus. We got him onboard and then came here." Leo finished. He'd just told his entire story, from the blowing up of Gaea to his and Calypso's arrival at Camp Jupiter.

He was sitting in a circle on the floor with the other demigods, except for Will and Nico. Will was trying hard to help Tadashi, and Nico was silently assisting him for one reason or another. Leo would have to ask about that relationship later, because as far as he knew the son of Hades wasn't close with anyone at Camp.

"You really only came back to California today?" Hazel asked in amazement. "How could it have taken so long?"

"Time is different on Ogygia." Calypso answered with a shrug. "It isn't synced with the rest of the world. Weeks or months or even years can pass without notice."

"Have you contacted anyone at Camp Half-Blood?" Frank asked. "Jason and Piper are there now, along with Percy and Annabeth. They should know too."

Leo shook his head, not meeting their eyes. "I haven't had the time. We had planned on going straight back, but with the fire and everything the plan kind of went out the window."

"Well, you won't have to wait much longer!" Will called. "I have this guy just about ready for the trip back!" Leo looked over to where they'd laid Tadashi out on Reyna's desk. His torso was wrapped in bandages and his leg had a splint on it. Will was busy stowing whatever he'd been using back in his bag. "I've wrapped and treated the worst of his wounds, but we need to get to the infirmary at Camp. I don't have enough supplies here."

"You should get out of here, then." Reyna decided, standing up. Leo and the rest followed her lead.

"How will we reach the other Camp?" Calypso asked curiously. "What is our 'faster' way of travel?"

"That'd be me." Nico informed. "I'll shadow travel us five back to Camp Half-Blood."

"Wait, that teleporting thing you used to get the Athena Parthenos back? Didn't that take like, forever?" Leo asked.

Nico reached inside his shirt and pulled out a necklace with what looked like a caduceus on it. "Hermes gave me this when he told me to come. It'll amplify my powers related to travel and get us back in no time. Just turn off the lights and we can leave from this room."

"But what about Festus? I can't just leave him here." Leo pointed to the incredibly heavy bronze suitcase that his dragon now was.

"And don't expect us to just stay behind!" Frank said adamantly. "It's been forever and we've only seen you for like ten minutes."

Hazel nodded. "I'd like to come. We'd finally have the seven back together again. And can't I help you shadow travel, like we did back in the House of Hades?"

"I don't know. Hermes said only to get these three." Nico shrugged. "I don't want to mess with his magic when I don't understand it yet."

"Why don't you two just ride Festus to Camp Half-Blood?" Reyna suggested, gesturing to Hazel and Frank. "That way the dragon isn't left behind and you get to see your old friends again."

"That's a great idea!" Frank exclaimed. Then he got a real embarrassed look on his face. "Oh, wait. I have praetor duties…I can't just run off without any warning."

" _Praetor?_ " Leo repeated. "Dang, how much did I miss?"

"That happened before you disappeared, actually." Nico told him dryly. "Remember the ghost mob in the House of Hades?"

Now it was Leo's turn to be embarrassed. "Oh…oh, yeah. Sorry."

Reyna cracked a smile. "I've run this camp on my own before. I think I can spare you for a week or two."

"Thank you!" Frank beamed. "Now, how do we fly a giant metal dragon?"

This, Leo was more comfortable with talking about. He didn't like the idea of other people piloting his buddy, but if it was Hazel and Frank…well, there were few people Leo trusted more. "It's pretty simple. Just press the orange button to make him go back to full size. When you get on there are some retractable reins you can use to steer, but just say your destination and he can go on autopilot to Camp Half-Blood. I'm not sure how long it'll take to get there. Probably no more than a day or two, depending on breaks."

"Can we leave now?" Will complained. "This guy will only get worse the longer he goes without proper treatment."

"Calm down, Solace." Nico rolled his eyes. "We know that. Come on guys, circle up."

Everyone joined hands. Tadashi, still unconscious, had his hands held by Nico and Will. "Now whatever you do, don't let go." Nico advised. "I'm going to shoot for the infirmary in the Big House, but it may not be exactly right. Is everyone ready?"

"Let's go." Will said.

"I'm ready." Calypso announced.

"As I'll ever be." Leo shrugged. He was really going back...in just a little bit, he'd be face to face with Jason and Piper and everyone. "Let's hurry."

Nico glanced back to Hazel and Frank. "We'll see you in a couple days."

"Go home, Greeks." Hazel smiled. She was still a little teary, but she let out a laugh. Frank smiled and waved goodbye.

"Lights, Reyna?" Nico asked.

"Got it." the praetor shut off the lights and Calypso's grip on Leo's hand tightened.

"Hold on tight, everyone!" Nico warned. "Here we go!"

Leo decided immediately that he hated shadow travel. He couldn't breathe and it felt like the blackness was going to crush him even worse than Frank's hug. But it was over in a few seconds, and Leo was very suddenly falling backward. He landed hard on his butt.

"Ow!" He opened his eyes and found that he was sitting in the dirt. "Man, what the heck?"

"Sorry, Leo." Nico smirked. He and everyone else were standing on the porch of the Big House. It looked as if Leo had unluckily appeared right over the edge, a couple feet in the air. Which explained why he was the only one on the ground.

"Your smile is creepy." Leo complained, standing up. He dusted himself off and looked behind him, at the rest of the camp. Everything seemed peaceful - there was no torn up earth, no ruined buildings. It looked like the sun was about to rise.

"Will someone help me bring him inside?" Will asked, gesturing to Tadashi's limp body.

"Oh yeah, sorry." Leo climbed back up the porch steps. Will and Nico took Tadashi's shoulders and Leo grabbed his feet. "Can you get the door, Calypso?"

"Of course. Where do we go now?" She asked, opening the front door. It was never locked, because you never knew what might happen to a camp full of demigods in the middle of the night. Their arrival, for one.

"Down the hall, last door to the right. That's the infirmary." Calypso nodded at Will's instruction and walked ahead of them. The living room was so dark Leo could barely see, so he let Will and Nico lead. Calypso flicked on the lights as the boys entered, revealing a clean and cheery room with six white beds. Why the sheets in Hospitals were always white, Leo would never know. Wasn't white really hard to keep looking clean? "Let's put him right here." They laid Tadashi on his stomach, as the worst of the burns were on his back. Will started to undo his temporary bandages, and Nico helped like he'd been doing it forever. _Okay, that's really odd._

It was surreal being back again. Sure it hadn't felt like eight months to Leo, but he got the feeling that a lot had happened after Gaea's defeat. Nico being so friendly with Will, of all people, was one of them. What had been going on with Jason and Piper while he was MIA?

"Is there anything we can do to help?" Calypso asked.

"No, not really. Just stay out of my way and you're good. You don't have any injuries, do you?" Will added the question as an afterthought.

"I got hit on the head when the building collapsed, but I'm fine now." Leo shrugged. "Tadashi needs help more than me."

Calypso sat on one of the spare beds and Leo found a chair, which he sat in with his back to the door. It seemed they were only watching the others work for a moment when they heard something coming from outside the infirmary.

"What in the world is going on here? It's five in the morning!" An irritated voice demanded. _Oh, crap. That'd be Chiron..._ all their noise must have woken the old centaur up early. Leo heard the sound of his wheelchair rolling down the hall. Leo remembered that the ceilings were too low for him to walk comfortably in his horse form. "What are you all doing out of bed so early?" Chiron demanded, sounding like he was right behind them.

Leo's back was to the door, so Chiron obviously hadn't noticed who he was yet, and he wouldn't recognize Calypso. I wonder how long it will take. Leo thought to himself with a smirk. Everyone but Will was now looking at the old centaur. Leo didn't turn around.

"Hermes gave Nico a message and told him go to get these guys. This one was caught in a fire and he got hurt pretty bad." Will informed impatiently.

"I see…Another son of Hermes, then? Will he be all right? Chiron asked, his irritated tone quickly replaced with concern.

"No, son of Hephaestus." Nico corrected, then pointed at Leo. "He is too."

"You were together, then? How much do you know about what has happened?" Chiron asked, sounding like he was talking to a newcomer.

Leo took this as his cue to turn around. He leaned back in his chair so he was looking at Chiron upside down. "A lot, actually."

The look on his face was priceless. His jaw dropped and he stared at Leo for what felt like a full minute. "You...you've...Leo!"

"Come on, I haven't been gone long enough for you to forget my gorgeous face!" Leo grinned, and turned around all the way. His head had started to hurt sitting the other way.

"Where have you been?" Chiron demanded, still looking shocked.

"He went to get me." Calypso told the centaur brightly. "My name is Calypso."

Now Chiron looked even more surprised. " _Calypso!_ Leo, you went to Ogygia?"

"I went back, actually. First time I was there because Khione blasted me off the Argo II. But I promised to get Calypso off the island, and I did." Leo told him proudly.

And now Chiron looked as if his head was about to explode. Leo supposed that in all his years of hero training he couldn't have heard a tale like this. "I can see there's quite the story to tell. Why don't we let Will work in peace?"

"I'm staying." Nico decided. "This is a lot of work for one person."

"Fine then, fine." Chiron said absently. "Leo, Calypso? Please come with me."

He led them back into the living room, where they sat down on the couches. Chiron looked at them and simply raised an eyebrow. "Well?"

And so Leo and Calypso once again told their story. Chiron interrupted every now and again to ask questions. When they finished, he began filling them in on what had happened since the battle with Gaea.

From what he'd said, it had taken almost a month to finish repairs. During that time, there had been funerals for all the demigods who had died in the fight—including Leo himself. He looked away at that part. Things had pretty much gone back to normal after that, with all the Romans except for Jason going back to California. Percy and Annabeth had started going to school in the city, though they were apparently here on spring break now. Jason had taken the task of organizing the construction of monuments for all the gods. All of them. Piper was helping, but it sounded like a huge job. And according to Chiron Nico had been hanging around too, and in that time he had become close with Will and a few other campers. _That's good for him, he was always so lonely before._ Leo thought. _I wonder why he picked Will as a friend, though. They're so different._

By the time they finished talking, the sun was well over the horizon and the campers were probably beginning to head off to breakfast. Leo heard a large sigh coming from the infirmary. Will emerged, followed closely by Nico, who shut the door. Will flopped down on the end of the couch Leo was sitting on with Calypso. Nico sat on its arm.

"Uuugh, I'm so tired..." The son of Apollo companied. "That was _not_ what I wanted to do first thing in the morning."

"How is Tadashi?" Leo asked.

"His right leg is broken and he has a mix of second and third degree burns all along his torso. About ninety percent of his body is covered in bruises and smaller burns. Also a concussion, so he'll be out for a few more hours." Will groaned again. "I did the best I could to speed the healing process, but I don't want him out of bed for at least a couple weeks. He'll make a full recovery, but those burns will leave some ugly scars."

"Get something to eat and go rest in your cabin." Chiron advised. "Come on, breakfast has already started. Leo, Calypso, are you two coming?"

"Umm..." Leo wasn't quite ready to appear in front of the entire camp.

"Give us a moment. We'll join you in a bit." Calypso told Chiron when she saw the uncomfortable look on Leo's face.

"I understand. I won't mention your names." The centaur said, then looked to Will and Nico. "Shall we go?"

With a couple words of farewell, the three of them exited through the front door. Once outside, Chiron shifted back into his centaur form and trotted off, Nico and Will following him to the dining pavilion, Leo watching them go.

"Are you all right?" Calypso asked, walking up behind him and putting a hand on his shoulder.

"I'll be fine. I'm just a little nervous. They're all there and I don't really know what to say or do." Leo shrugged. "How about you? How does it feel being back around other people again?"

"Very strange." She admitted. "I'm sure it will be worse when we go meet everyone else, I can hardly remember what it's like to be in a crowd."

"You'll be okay, you were fine back in the city. Besides, you're not the one who disappeared for more than half a year." Leo added bitterly.

Out of nowhere, Calypso leaned over and kissed him. Leo was glad his skin was kind of dark, because he was sure he was blushing. She pulled back a second later and smiled at him. "You are brave and selfless and a hero. You can do this."

Leo just stared at her for a moment, not used to such direct praise. Then he grinned back. _She's so awesome_. "Well, let's not keep our audience waiting! Let's try to hide, though. I don't want anyone to see us coming."

Calypso rolled her eyes. "You could not just walk up and say hello?"

"Nope! That's way too easy. Come on, just follow my lead!"

She laughed and followed him out of the Big House. They crept through the strawberry fields, trying not to draw attention to themselves. It was unlikely that anyone would notice them there, but Leo wanted to play on the safe side. They moved slower as they climbed the hill to the dining pavilion. They had nearly reached it when Leo realized something was odd. Nobody was talking. Everyone had their eyes on the head table. Whatever cover up story Chiron was telling had to be good. He also noticed that all the demigods seemed to be mixed up - while most of the sibling groups sat at their respective tables, some had switched. Leo thought he might have spotted Nico's dark head at the Apollo table. The Poseidon table was usually crowded. One kid with black hair, two blond kids, and a girl with choppy dark brown hair. Percy, Jason, Piper, and Annabeth. Huh. Well, after everything they had gone through it would make sense for them to want to sit together. It also made Leo's plan easier, as the Poseidon table was right on the edge and it was still more than half empty.

"Wait here." Leo whispered to Calypso, and they hid behind one of the marble columns that ringed the pavilion. They leaned over on either side of it, just far enough to see.

"Wait, why would Hermes go out of his way to help get some weird Hephaestus kid here?" A random camper asked.

"We'll remember that next time you need a new weapon!" A voice called from the other side of the pavilion. It sounded like Nyssa.

"Settle down, settle down." Chiron said mildly. "The whims of the gods are ever mysterious. I think that it would be best to wait until the injured demigod and his companions are ready to talk."

Leo tapped Calypso on the shoulder. "They're almost done thing, I think. While everyone is still distracted we should move. Just sit at the table right in front of us. Try not to make a sound."

"This is foolish." Calypso told him. "But if you insist, let's go."

"Awesome. Okay, on my mark." Leo glanced out again. Not one camper was looking anywhere near them. "Now!"

They stayed crouched low and crept up to the table step by step. Then, ever so carefully, Leo sat down on the bench next to Jason. Calypso was on the other side by Percy. _Oh man, do we have mad stealth skills or what? Now I just have to wait for the right time._ Leo smiled to himself. The look on Jason's face would be priceless.

"…And so I ask you all to please stay away from the Big House for now." Leo heard Chiron say. "These demigods have been through a lot, we don't want to push them more than we have to." There was a chorus of yesses in response.

 _Well, here goes nothing._ Leo waited for the rest of the campers to quiet down before he spoke, very loudly and obviously. "Oh yeah? It takes more than a little _fire_ to scare me!"

Everyone went silent. Then, so fast it was almost comical, Jason and the others whipped their heads around to stare at Leo. Their eyes were all wide in amazement. One by one, more heads were turning.

"Hey, guys." Leo waved cheerfully. "I'm home."

 **I did it again, didn't I? Oh, the cliffhangers. But I HAVE AN IMPORTANT QUESTION: Would you like to see more flashes back to Hiro, like we had at the beginning of this chapter? (He's still going to come in as an important character later, this would just be extra stuff.) They wouldn't be long, but I can work them in quite nicely if you'd like. Click that review button and let me know!**


	5. The Boy On Fire

**Oh, Leo. What a dramatic flare he has~**

Okay, this was getting awkward fast. Everybody was staring at Leo, and he realized they were waiting for him to make the first move. _Okay, this is feeling way too serious. If they want a show I'll give them one!_ He grinned. And without further ado, Leo jumped up on the table.

"Hello, Camp Half-Blood! The boy on fire is BACK!" And then, of course, Leo burst into flames. The camp was silent for a minute longer, and then—everyone erupted into cheers. People screamed his name, asking where he'd been and yelling playful insults. No sooner had Leo extinguished himself and jumped down than he was attacked by his four friends.

"Eight months!" Jason yelled, "Where in Hades did you go? I thought I'd never see you again!"

Piper was crying too hard to speak, but she held Leo so tight it seemed like she would never let go.

Annabeth had an incredulous smile on her face. "Percy went missing after an explosion once. We all thought he was dead, but that was only for two weeks!"

Percy himself was grinning like a maniac, but he seemed a bit confused. "Nico said he sensed your death. How can you be here?"

They all pulled back, waiting for his explanation. But before Leo could say a word, he was ambushed again. By the entire Hephaestus cabin. Ever been tackled by a bunch of super strong blacksmith kids? Leo wouldn't recommend it. They were yelling loudly enough for the entire camp. "You're alive! You're really here!" Nyssa cried. "We have our head counselor back!" Jake yelled. Little Harley was holding onto Leo's waist and crying "Brother, brother!"

This was crazy! Leo had never quite been the center of attention—okay, maybe a couple times like when he'd found Festus—but everyone was looking at him like he'd just saved the world or something! He was just Leo! This was insane. Eventually, his siblings let him go. They were all still giving him hat look, though!

"We all thought you were dead, you _stupid_ repair boy!" Piper yelled. She looked ready to punch him. "Where the hell were you for the past eight months?" The rest of the camp quieted down, waiting to hear his story. But once again, someone spoke before Leo could.

"He set me free." Calypso told them. The campers seemed to notice her sitting there at the Poseidon table for the first time. She stood up and gave them all a bright smile. "My name is Calypso." Once again, the camp went silent. It took a few minutes for them to realize this was _the_ Calypso, daughter of Atlas, nymph of Ogygia, the same woman who'd met Odysseus on his journey. They didn't scream and cheer like they had for Leo, but instead whispered to each other and stared in awe.

"You're off of Ogygia." Percy said. "I'm sorry I didn't make sure you were set free before, I…"

"I hold no grudge against you. After all, if I had left, I may never have met Leo" Calypso gazed at Leo warmly, and he looked away, face burning.

"It seems like there's quite the story to tell." Piper stated, probably picking up on the emotion between the two. "Don't think you're going to put off explaining everything to us."

And so, by popular demand, (which really meant a bunch of whining and begging) Leo told his story to the entire camp, right there in the middle of the dining pavilion. He started with his plan for rebuilding Festus, to his trick with the physician's cure, then ended with Tadashi's rescue and their journey back. Calypso helped and answered some questions, but Leo did most of the talking. When they were finished, Chiron got everyone's attention.

"I am sure you'd all love to stay here and keep talking, but there are things to be done! Back to regular activities everyone, go on!" He rolled his eyes at all the protests. "Give Leo some space, I'm sure he's had more than enough questions for now!"

Gradually, the demigods trickled off to other parts of the camp. Nyssa winked when she passed, and said, "I'll see you in the forge later." The rest of his brothers and sisters gave him similar remarks, and a couple of them said they'd go and visit Tadashi. He was family, after all.

Suddenly, Leo and Calypso were standing alone with Jason, Piper, Percy, and Annabeth. Jason looked around at their group, then after thinking for a moment, spoke. "Well, would the lost hero and the legendary nymph care to see what we've been up to these past few months?"

"You haven't been getting into too much trouble, have you?" Leo teased. "I'd hate to have missed out on the fun."

Piper punched his arm. "Your idea of fun is sending a swarm of automaton bugs to harass the other team during Capture the Flag. We're not that weird."

"Then you've been missing out on the patented Valdez awesomeness! You poor, poor kids…" Leo mimed wiping the tears from his eyes.

"Come on, come on. It's through the forest." Jason said. The six of them then began walking towards the trees.

"So what is this thing that we're going to see?" Leo asked.

"It's what Jason and Piper have been doing since the war ended." Annabeth told him. "Percy and I have just been going to school, nothing as exciting."

"Exciting as what?" Calypso wondered, echoing Leo's own thoughts.

"You'll see." Percy said, smirking at the look on Leo's face.

"Are you really not going to tell me anything?" He complained.

"No!" the four demigods chorused back.

Leo groaned in aggravation and Calypso giggled. They entered the shade of the trees then, and Leo had to smile at the familiar setting. He thought back to all those days when he'd run into the woods to work on the Argo II. _It's good to be back,_ he thought, as they suddenly arrived at a clearing. Leo thought the others would keep leading him towards whatever it was, before he realized the clearing was it.

It was pretty large, and full of odd looking statues and a couple small buildings. A few of them seemed to be under construction, but the completed ones seemed to have no sense of organization whatsoever. A stone mermaid statue sat next to a winged woman. There was a little shack decorated with things that reminded Leo of the sky and wind. And a whole bunch of other stuff, placed with no rhyme or reason. "What _is_ all this?" Leo asked, stunned. It certainly hadn't been there before he disappeared!

"Shrines to the minor gods and other deities." Jason answered proudly. "The ones who can't or won't have half-blood kids. I designed them all."

"I helped a bit, but Jason and Piper did most of the work." Annabeth added. "Pretty impressive, huh?"

"It's awesome!" Leo grinned, walking closer to the mermaid statue. That thing was crazy detailed!

"How many are you planning?" Calypso asked. She'd followed him over to the statue and was also gazing at it. "This is for…Amphitrite?"

"Yep" Said Percy, popping the p. "Once she heard about Jason's little project she sent her request to me with a dolphin. It was one of the first ones they finished."

Leo nodded. "What was the first, then?" Nobody answered. "Come on guys, what was the first thing you built?"

The four of them all looked embarrassed, for some reason. _Why, did it fail for some reason? Did it collapse or something?_ Leo wondered, glancing at Calypso. She shrugged. Jason scratched the back of his head. "It, err, wasn't a shrine."

"What, then? Come on, don't keep secrets!" Leo tried to lighten the mood with a laugh. "Whatever it was, it couldn't be that bad!"

"It was a memorial." Piper said quietly, not looking him in the face. "A memorial…for the heroes we lost in the final battle with Gaea."

It took a second, but then it hit Leo why they wouldn't meet his eyes. _For the heroes we lost in the final battle…_ Leo had gone missing in the final battle. If they'd built a memorial for him, then they must have given up on him ever coming back. The guilt hit him like a truck. _All that time they were here. All those days where they believed I was gone for good…_

"It's, um, on the other side of the clearing if you want to see. We built it apart from everything else." Jason told him.

Leo shook his head. If he went to look right now it would only make him feel worse. "I think visiting the forges or something would be a better idea." His siblings were always up for a good time. Maybe Leo could even look up the Stoll brothers and plan a couple pranks. Anything to get rid of this depressing mood.

Suddenly, before any decisions could be made, there came the sound of footsteps rapidly approaching. Leo turned around and saw his brother, Shane running up to them. He skidded to a stop, breathing hard. "The guy you brought here…he's…"

"What? Is there something wrong?" _Will said he'd make a full recovery!_

"No, it's fine. But he's awake." Shane looked Leo in the eyes. "And he wants to see you.

* * *

Everything was on fire. It was so hot that Tadashi was soaked with sweat, and the smoke was making it hard to breathe. There was barely any space not occupied by roaring flames. "Professor, where are you? Professor, we've got to go!"

Out of nowhere, a voice screamed at him. "Tadashi! _Get out of the way!_ " It definitely wasn't Professor Callaghan—Tadashi turned around to see a kid probably around Hiro's age running at him, a frantic look on his face. Wait, was he running straight through the flames? Tadashi didn't have time to wonder about it, because a split second later there was an earsplitting crash and the world came falling down around him.

 _Everything_ hurt. His legs, his arms, and his back especially…Tadashi couldn't think straight through the haze of pain. Was there someone calling for him? Maybe that kid…was he all right? "I'm…here." Tadashi called as loud as he could, which wasn't very loud at all. He tried to move, but his limbs wouldn't respond. Everything was going dark…it all was fading away…

The last thing that crossed his mind was how Hiro must have felt about him running into the fire. _I'm sorry, little bro. I was supposed to make it out alive. Don't give up. Be strong for me, Hiro…be strong._

And then the world went black.

Tadashi didn't know how long he was out. The next thing he knew he was lying on his stomach in a comfortable bed in what looked like a hospital room. And he was in way too much pain to be dead. _I survived? Did that kid pull me out of the fire?_ "Where…am I?" He croaked. His throat was burning.

"Huh? Oh, hey, you're awake!" Someone said excitedly. "Yo, Shane! He's up!"

"I heard, you dolt." Another person answered. Suddenly there were two teens staring down at Tadashi. One was tall and lanky with messy brown hair, and the other was short and ginger. There was nothing alike about them except for their calloused hands and muscled arms. "My name is Chris." The ginger said. "You're called Tadashi, right? How much do you remember?"

Tadashi would have shrugged, but his shoulders were what hurt the most. It felt like they'd been bandaged tightly on top of whatever horrific burns there were bound to be. "I remember up to when the roof fell on me. Where am I? What happened to the other kid?"

The two shared a look. "What hospital is this? How long was I out?" Tadashi asked suspiciously. "Do you know where my brother and aunt are?"

"This isn't exactly a hospital." The brown haired one, who must have been Shane, answered. "As for where, well, you're in New York. Long Island, to be exact."

 _New York? How long was I out?_ Tadashi thought in alarm. _Oh man, Hiro must be worried sick!_ "How'd I get here? I'm from California!"

Once again, the brothers looked at each other. Then they began a whispered debate that wasn't really all that whispered.

"I don't want to tell him"

"Neither do I! He doesn't know _anything!"_

"And how am I supposed to tell him he's a half-blood?" Half-blood? Tadashi knew that already. His mom had been Japanese, and his dad…well, he'd never been around much before he died.

"I don't know, but we can't just ignore him!"

It seemed like the two boys weren't going to tell Tadashi anything useful anytime soon. He decided to change the subject. "What about the other boy in the fire? And my Professor? Are they all right?"

Shane's eyes lit up. "Leo, that's it! He can tell you!"

"Is that the kid's name? Did he get hurt?" Tadashi would hate it if he was. From what he remembered it had seemed like the boy was specifically looking for him. But what about Professor Callaghan?

"Nah, Leo's fine." Chris answered. "He's the one who got you out of the fire and brought you here. Well, Calypso helped, but I can't imagine she did much in the actual fire."

"That would be Leo's area of expertise." Shane agreed. "I'll go look for him. Jason and the others probably took him to Shrine Glade. Just give me a few minutes."

The taller kid stood and ran out the door, looking relieved that he had the excuse to avoid Tadashi's questioning. Chris just sat there awkwardly, fiddling with something he'd pulled out of his pocket. "You shouldn't try to move much. You got banged up pretty bad."

 _Oh? Damn, I really wanted to show you my freaking tap dance routine!_ Tadashi thought sarcastically. He wasn't going anywhere soon. "But Leo was in there with me. How did he not get crushed? Or burned, at the very least?"

"Let's just say that Leo is the fire guy." Chris shrugged. "Sorry, I'm not the best person for conversation. And the story that leads to you getting here…well, it's pretty complicated."

The two waited in silence after that. _I hope this Leo kid knows what happened to Hiro and Aunt Cass._ It must have taken a while to get him to New York, but he had no idea why he'd needed to be taken all the way across the country. What did this not-hospital place have that San Fransokyo didn't?

After what felt like an awkward eternity the door opened. Shane came in first, followed by a short Hispanic kid, a girl with caramel hair, a strong looking blond boy, a gorgeous girl that might have been Native American, a blonde girl with calculating gray eyes, and lastly a boy with messy black hair and sea green eyes.

"How about we go to the forge and leave these guys to talk?" Chris asked Shane hopefully.

"Yeah, great idea." And so the two practically ran out the door, leaving it open behind them. The gray-eyed girl shut it. "Wimps." She muttered.

"They're fun, but they've never had to explain things to a new camper." The Hispanic boy shrugged. "Speaking of which, you must be really confused by now."

Tadashi was. Go to the forge? New camper? What the hell was that about? "Which one of you is Leo?"

"That'd be me." The Hispanic boy said. The rest introduced themselves as Calypso, Annabeth, Percy, Piper, and Jason. The five of them all sat on one side of Tadashi, a couple in chairs and a couple in the bed next to his. As they settled in, Tadashi noticed something unsettling—they were all younger than him. Annabeth and Percy, who looked like the oldest, probably weren't even out of high school yet. "So, where to begin…" Leo wondered aloud.

"Do you know what happened to by brother and Aunt? Where are they?" Tadashi asked.

"They are back in your city of San Fransokyo." Calypso answered. "You were hurt badly, there wasn't time to tell anyone. We had to move quickly."

 _Wait, what's that supposed to mean?_ "Are you saying…they don't know I'm here?" He asked indignantly. What had they done, kidnapped him?

"Calm down." Annabeth ordered. "This may be hard to take, but no, they have no idea you're here."

"Why the hell not? They have to know! They must think I'm dead!" Tadashi would have been yelling if his voice wasn't so scratchy. He didn't normally curse, but this was an exceptional situation. "Give me a phone. If you won't tell them, then—"

"Cut it out!" Leo burst. There was an odd expression on his face, a mix of anger and sadness. The others gave him a shocked look, so he must not have gotten mad often. "Even if they do think you're dead, they can handle it for now. If you get up and start doing crazy stuff then you really might end up six feet under. You wanted the whole story, right? Then just stay still and listen."

The room was quiet for a moment. "All right…tell me what happened." Tadashi said.

Leo sighed. "We should start at the beginning, then. How much do you know about Greek Mythology?"

 **Sorry to cut the explanation in half. I was having some serious pacing issues around here. I tried to fit the explanation in to one chapter, but then the next one was just incredibly short and boring. I write ahead a couple chapters, so I have time to go back and edit and such. And with what I've got so far this was the best place to stop. But don't worry, there is NO cliffhanger next time. And the chapter after next is incredibly huge. We have great things coming, guys! Please review!**


	6. How Far We've Come

**So this was my awkward patch chapter. It may seem a tad cobbled together, but hopefully I can answer your questions ant the end. Oh, and the song later on is How Far We've Come, by Matchbox 20. Have it ready to play!**

"Greek Mythology? What does that have to do with anything?" Tadashi asked incredulously.

"You'd be surprised. But answer the question, how much do you know?" Leo repeated, the intense expression still on his face. It really didn't match his features at all. Tadashi figured he usually smiled and joked a lot.

"I know the basics. Stories like Theseus and Orpheus and Odysseus. I know most of the major gods, too. I'm taking a class on it now to get my history credit." Tadashi answered. "It's always seemed pretty interesting, but there's not much relevance to everyday life."

Leo glanced around at his friends with an expression that Tadashi imagined said, _here goes nothing._ "Well, what if I told you those stories were true? All those heroes and monsters existed…and that the gods were still alive today?"

Tadashi stared at him. "What do you mean by that?"

"All the Greek myths, nearly every legend that has survived up till now is true. The Gods are a very real thing." The blonde girl, Annabeth, answered for Leo.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. That can't be right." Tadashi looked at each of the teens in front of him, but none of them showed signs that it was a joke. "Look, I don't know what kind of game you're playing here, but—"

"It's not a game." Leo said firmly. "We've seen them. We've fought them. We've risked our lives for them."

"And more." Jason added, giving Leo an odd look.

"Even I did believe you, what's that have to do with me? I'm just a regular guy." Tadashi couldn't see any point in this far-fetched explanation.

"What did the gods do all the time in the myths?" Annabeth asked. "They ran around, falling for mortals and having kids with them."

"So?"

"Look, if the gods were still around today, what do you think would happen to those kids? Most of them wouldn't be able to survive in the mortal world. So they band together, come her to learn to fight. Everyone here, we're all the children of the gods." Annabeth explained, then looked at him like she was waiting for him to understand. And then the information clicked.

"You're saying that I'm a _demigod?_ " Tadashi exclaimed. "That's impossible! Both my parents died ten years ago."

"One of them probably did, yeah." Piper told him sympathetically. "But the other is still very much alive. You're one of us, Tadashi. You belong here."

The girl's words had a soothing effect. For a second, Tadashi thought that whatever kind of crazy place this was, at least he wasn't being tortured or anything. They had treated his injuries and given him a place to recover. Maybe…maybe it wasn't so bad. _Think of Hiro, though. He probably has no idea where you are. Aunt Cass and the others, too. You have to go back to them._ "How am I supposed to believe that? I was fine before you all decided to bring me here. I have a little brother that needs me back home. You want me to go along with your crazy Greek nonsense? Prove it."

"You want the boring or the exciting version?" Leo asked, grinning.

"Excuse me?" Tadashi replied.

"Well, I could explain how I was in the middle of that fire saving your sorry butt and that there is miraculously not s single burn on my body," Leo gestured to his soot covered yet healthy skin, then held his hands out in front of him. "Or I could just do this!" And Leo lit both his hands on fire.

If he could have, Tadashi would have jumped away. Instead, he was forced to watch as Leo's hands burned. How had that happened? Why didn't he seem to be in any pain at all?

Just as suddenly as the fire appeared, it went out. Leo was still smiling. "Leo Valdez, son of Hephaestus, the god of blacksmiths and fire. Also the first fire user for a couple hundred years."

Needless to say it took a little while for the news to sink in. Tadashi was stunned. He didn't want to believe it, but there seemed to be no other explanation. How else could a normal-looking boy light himself on fire and be completely fine? Unless it was a seriously elaborate prank. Percy, not wanting to miss out on the fun, it seemed, levitated the water out of a glass that had been sitting on a nearby table and splashed Jason in the face with it. The blond boy hadn't busted out more freaky magic, saying his powers were a little too destructive for such a small room. "But I can show you once you get a bit stronger, if you'd like." He'd offered.

They then explained that this place was called Camp Half-Blood, one of the only safe places in the world for demigods. Apparently there was another back in California, but it was for Romans. Tadashi decided he could think about the reason for that later.

Tadashi took another minute. "So…if I'm a half-blood, then what about my little brother? I only remember us having one father."

"Hiro is one of us too." Leo told him. "But what with the fire and you being so hurt, there wasn't time to explain things to him or take him with us."

"How do you know that? And who is our father?" Tadashi was pretty sure his dad was the god, as he remembered his mother being around way more when he was young.

"Your dad told me himself. He actually came to me when I was looking for you in the exhibition hall, and told me that you and your brothers were demigods." Leo explained. "As for who, it's Hephaestus."

"But I thought he was your dad?"

"He is."

"But—oh." If this was really a place full of demigods, it made sense that there would be a bunch belonging to each god or goddess. "Then you're my…"

"I'm your half-brother." Leo nodded. "Welcome to the family."

* * *

They had left Tadashi alone after their explanation. It was a lot to take in, and the guy couldn't have been feeling very good to begin with. So, Leo and his friends decided to go hang out in the arena. At one point he'd actually melted Jason's sneakers to the floor of the arena, and laughed when he fell on his face right in the middle of a duel with Percy. Then he ran away before the son of Jupiter could catch him and ended up hiding in the forges. He had a blast catching up with his brothers and sisters. Calypso had struck up a conversation with one of the Apollo campers and ended up going to talk with them while Leo was with his siblings. She said something about sharing healing methods.

So yeah, apart from that really awkward scene in Shrine Glade that he tried not to think about, everything was going great. Even Dionysus, when he finally turned up in the middle of the day, had been grudgingly pleased to see Leo. Leo wasn't all that cool with the cranky wine god, but he could deal with him being there. It would be weird to see him around now, as Leo had only ever been at camp when Chiron was in charge. All the campers who had been around him before said he mostly stayed out of their business.

Only one thing bothered him, though. Occasionally he'd catch a group of campers whispering excitedly, but whenever he approached they seemed to change the subject or just ran away. He even found Piper making an Iris-message at one point, but she'd waved a hand through the mist before he could see who she was talking to. _They're hiding something._ But it didn't seem all that important, so Leo let it slide for the time being.

He was at dinner now, sitting with Calypso and the rest of the seven. Nico had also joined them, and Will as well. Leo still had to figure out what had caused those two go get so close. _Those two are such opposites, I wonder how they started talking?_

"So the guy thought I'd be easy to pick on, right?" Percy was right in the middle of telling a story about something that had happened at his and Annabeth's school. "He said I looked like a wimp and could never make the swim team. Not that I really wanted to, but I agreed to race him anyway. Probably half the school showed up. But once we got in the pool it was all over, he didn't stand a chance. I'd done four laps before he even finished his first."

"Don't exaggerate. Annabeth shoved his shoulder playfully. "If you swam that fast in front of a bunch of mortals, they'd definitely notice something was up."

"Yeah, but I could have if I'd wanted to."

Leo snorted at their way-too-obvious flirting. "So? What'd the guy say when you beat his butt?"

"He told me—Festus?" Percy exclaimed suddenly.

"Why would he say that?"

"No, look! Over to the west!" Percy pointed excitedly. "It must be Frank and Hazel!"

Leo looked, and sure enough, there was his giant bronze buddy flying over the woods, the sunset making his body gleam like fire. He cheered. Lots of others were noticing Festus now, and broke into excited chatter. In a matter of seconds he'd landed, just feet away from the dining pavilion. _How did they get here so fast? That's crazy!_

"Sorry we're late!" Frank called as he and Hazel dismounted. Festus, now riderless, shifted into a waiting position as they walked over. The two Romans weren't mobbed like Leo had been, but they were greeted with many friendly calls as they joined Leo's table.

"Yes, yes, what a surprise. I can't imagine a flashier mode of transport." Dionysus said in a bored tone. "I suppose you silly children would like to celebrate, wouldn't you? Get to the amphitheater, then. I don't want to have to look at that stupidly excited expression anymore."

Hazel laughed lightly. "You guys always celebrate over here. I'd hate to see what you do at birthday parties."

"What, don't want to join in on the Greek awesomeness, Levesque?" Percy teased. "Fine, I'll eat your s'mores for you."

"You would eat everyone's if you could." Leo told him.

"How are things going back at Camp Jupiter?" Jason asked, "I haven't seen any of you guys since January."

Frank shrugged. "Nothing out of the ordinary. Well, unless you count Dakota finding real wine and actually getting drunk and then running around almost completely naked. _That_ was annoying."`

"We think a child of Mercury was just trying to cause trouble. But we still don't know who actually gave him the wine. Reyna was furious." Hazel added. "But enough of our stories for now—shouldn't we join the others? We seem to have been left behind."

Leo looked around and saw that yes, the pavilion was empty except for their table. _What the heck? That never happens so quickly!_

"It shouldn't be a problem." Will told their group. "I have the first song tonight, so they can't start until I get there."

"Then shouldn't you have gotten there first?" Nico asked, raising an eyebrow. Leo had almost forgotten he was there, the kid was so quiet. Will just looked at him, trying to think of a response.

Apparently, he couldn't come up with a good one, because the son of Apollo just stood up and said, "Let's get going."

As the ten of them walked across camp, Leo noticed that it was curiously empty. On a normal night, there would be demigods loitering here and there, talking and taking their time before arriving for the sing-along. _This is really weird._ Leo thought, _what's made everyone so eager to get there?_ His friends gave no clue, they were all acting like everything was normal. As they got closer to the amphitheater Leo realized that the magic campfire was burning extremely high. Also, it seemed to be flickering from bright orange to neon purple. Why was that?

Just before they walked in, Will turned around and spoke to the entire group. "Sorry to run, but I really do have to get in place! See you in a minute!" And so he ran the remaining twenty feet and dashed down the steps.

With the fire burning so bright, Leo had expected to hear lots of shouts and cheers. But as they came up on the back of the amphitheater, he didn't hear a thing. "Okay, something is definitely up." He said, "What's going on?

"Is it always this quiet? I thought this was some kind of celebration." Calypso added—so, she didn't know what the others were hiding either. _At least I'm not the only one in the dark._

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Piper said cheekily.

"Yeah," Jason agreed, as they started down the steps of the amphitheater, "This looks like a party to me!"

As soon as he said the line—which Leo suspected had been rehearsed—the entire camp cheered. Leo jumped at the noise. The fire flared even brighter from where it was at the back of the stage, drawing attention to the majority of the Apollo cabin that was sitting there. Some held instruments and some just seemed to be hanging out. Will Solace was standing at the front of the stage. "Come on, sit down! The music is just about to start!" He called up to them, then motioned to a largish empty space that had been left at the front of the audience.

"Wait, what happened to sitting with our cabins?" Leo asked, confused. Unlike at dinner, everyone else seemed to be sticking with their siblings.

"Just go, Valdez!" Someone called. _Okay…what is this about?_ Leo wondered as he went to the front of the audience with his friends. Once they were all settled—Calypso on Leo's right side, Jason on his left—Will spoke again.

"Good evening, Camp Half-Blood!" He called, and the camp roared back. "After eight months, the hero of the Giant War, the demigod Gaea fell to, the half-blood who died and lived again, our favorite fire user is _back!_ " More cheers rang out. "Tonight, Leo, we're singing for you!

" _What?_ " Leo burst. "Wait, why? I didn't even do anything!"

Jason shoved his shoulder good-naturedly. "Leo, you took down _Gaea._ Without you we'd never have won!"

"You went to my island twice." Calypso added. "Something not even the greatest heroes of old could do."

"So just stop complaining and enjoy the show!" Will shouted to him. "Ready, guys?" He asked the rest of his cabin. They readied their instruments, and one of them started banging out a tune on the drum set. Will began to sing.

 **Song: How Far We've Come, Matchbox 20**

 _Waking up at the start of the end of the world,_

 _But it's feeling just like every other morning before,_

 _Now I wonder what my life is gonna mean if it's gone._

So Leo had made the final blow. So what? The rest of the seven had done just as much as him. Why were they all treating him like he was so special?

 _The cars are moving like a half a mile an hour_

 _And I started staring at the passengers who're waving goodbye_

 _Can you tell me what was ever really special about me all this time?_

He was just Leo. A hyperactive demigod who had a way with tools. What was so special about him?

 _I believe the world is burning to the ground_

 _Oh well I guess we're gonna find out_

 _Let's see how far we've come_

 _Let's see how far we've come!_

 _Well I believe it all is coming to an end_

 _Oh well, I guess, we're gonna pretend,_

 _Let's see how far we've come_

 _Let's see how far we've come_

Well…he had come a long way since crash-landing at Camp that first day. He'd made friends he would give his life for. He'd built an entire warship from scratch.

 _I think it turned ten o'clock but I don't really know_

 _And I can't remember caring for an hour or so_

 _Started crying and I couldn't stop myself_

 _I started running but there's nowhere to run to_

As a kid he'd always run from his problems. He'd never really had anyone to trust until he'd met Jason and Piper. But now Leo promised himself he'd never run away again.

 _I sat down on the street, took a look at myself_

 _Said where you going man you know the world is headed for hell_

 _Say your goodbyes if you've got someone you can say goodbye to_

It didn't matter what trouble came at him now. He'd meet it head on, even if it led him as far as Tartarus. Leo was all about doing the impossible. He took Calypso's hand and grinned.

 _I believe the world is burning to the ground_

 _Oh well I guess we're gonna find out_

 _Let's see how far we've come_

 _Let's see how far we've come_

 _Well I, believe, it all, is coming to an end_

 _Oh well, I guess, we're gonna pretend,_

 _Let's see how far we've come_

 _Let's see how far we've come_

Maybe what he did was pretty spectacular after all.

 _It's gone, gone, baby, it's all gone_

 _There is no one on the corner and there's no one at home_

 _It was cool cool, it was just all cool_

 _Now it's over for me and it's over for you_

 _Well it's gone, gone, baby, it's all gone_

 _There is no one on the corner and there's no one at home_

 _Well it was cool cool, it was just all cool_

 _Now it's over for me and it's over for you_

He had a home now. He had a family and friends to rely on. He had someone he was pretty sure liked him even more than that.

 _I believe the world is burning to the ground_

 _Oh well I guess we're gonna find out_

 _Let's see how far we've come_

 _Let's see how far we've come_

 _Well I, believe, it all, is coming to an end_

 _Oh well, I guess, we're gonna pretend,_

 _Let's see how far we've come_

 _Let's see how far we've come_

He's burn the entire world to the ground to protect his friends if he had to. He was an inventor and a hero.

 _Let's see how far we've come_

 _Let's see how far we've come_

He was Leo Valdez.

 **I always thought this was a perfect song for PJO. It's my JAM. And Leo needed to realize how spectacular he is~ As far as the Frank and Hazel bit goes, I knew I needed to write them arriving and I didn't want to gloss over it. This was the only time I could fit it in. Hence Festus's warp speed. Sorry for the filler-ish chapter. But things heat up, so to speak(Hint, hint), in the next one. It's a monster! We've got Capture the Flag and Solangelo on the way, so the faster you review the faster you get it!**

 **ALSO! Which ship would you like to see a private scene with? Percabeth, Caleo, Jasper, Frazel, Solangelo? Tratie, even? I'll write a nice bit for whichever couple gets the most requests! Have a magical day!**


	7. Capture the Flag

**Sorry this chapter is a bit late! I got a bit distracted by the cosplay I'm making. (It's my first time doing armor!) I've decided that I'm going to stick to a schedule of Friday updates. And for those of you who were wondering: Hiro and Tadashi's mom was Japanese, and Cass is her adopted sister. That's why she's white. And yes I did discover last chapter's song from the viria music video~**

Before Tadashi knew it, two weeks had passed. He wasn't allowed out of the infirmary, but all sorts of people came to see him. He'd met all the other Hephaestus campers by now because they stopped by all the time. He was also pretty familiar with Will Solace, a son of Apollo that was apparently in charge of Tadashi's recovery. A quiet kid named Nico di Angelo often accompanied him. They were so different that Tadashi wondered about their relationship, but it was really not his business, so he didn't ask. What he did ask about was Hiro, and when he could go and explain things to him. Apparently that couldn't happen until he was better

Anyway, it was thanks to Will that Tadashi had recovered so quickly. Even his broken leg was back to normal. The only thing that bothered him was the scars. He had yet to see them, but Will was now in the process of unwrapping his bandages for the last time.

"Now, when we're done here you can finally see the Hephaestus cabin, and have a look at the rest of the camp." The son of Apollo said brightly. "There's a Capture the Flag game later tonight. You can play, but I don't want you doing anything crazy. You're not back to full strength yet."

"What crazy things would I be doing during Capture the Flag?" Tadashi asked. "It's just a game."

Will shrugged. "And we're demigods. Accidents happen. Anyway, I think the Hephaestus cabin is playing with my cabin, Apollo, and also Hades, Athena, Hecate, Aphrodite…I'm not sure about the rest. Your siblings can tell you."

 _Siblings,_ Tadashi thought. It was weird to think of himself as part of a big family. There was only one brother that really mattered to him. _Hiro must be feeling terrible._ He'd tried to convince the activities director, Chiron (who was apparently a centaur) when he had come in to visit, but he had refused. His excuses were that Tadashi wasn't strong enough to go cross-country and that there were very few modern means of communication available at Camp. "If you were in your brother's place, what would you think of a sudden phone call from a strange number? If he heard your voice on the line when he was just beginning to accept that you were gone?" Chiron had asked.

Tadashi knew exactly how Hiro would feel—either pissed because he thought it was a prank, or depressed and anxious because Tadashi couldn't come home and Hiro couldn't come to him. Camp Half-Blood wasn't the kind of place you explained over the phone. And, apparently Hiro was a son of Hephaestus too, so he'd be in danger of monster attacks if he figured out who he was. Hiro was smart, sure, but he had no way to defend himself against the kind of things that demigods fought. So Tadashi had grudgingly decided to wait. Now that he was on his feet again, he would be asking to go back pretty soon. Hiro and the others wouldn't be thinking he was dead any longer than he could help.

"And I have no idea what the Romans are going to do. They might stick with their Greek counterparts, but I'm not sure." Will continued. Tadashi nodded absently. He remembered two of the Roman demigods coming to visit him just a little while after he'd gotten to Camp Half-Blood. Apparently they were only supposed to stay for a little bit, but then news had arrived from the other camp in California, and long story short, Hazel and Frank (He remembered that those were their names) were staying to supervise a group of Romans that had arrived a bit later for an exchange program of sorts.

"All right, that's the last of them." Will said in a satisfied tone. He threw the bandages into a nearby garbage can. "It really isn't all that bad. I mean, the scarring is pretty obvious, but it should fade over time."

"Can I look?" Tadashi asked tentatively. He didn't really want to see the marks that the fire had left on his body, but it would have to happen eventually.

"Sure. You know where the bathroom is." Will handed him an orange shirt. "I'll clean things up and then we can get going."

With a nod of thanks, Tadashi got up and headed for the tiny bathroom that was connected with the infirmary. He entered it and closed the door behind him, but paused before turning on the lights. _All right. Now or never, Tadashi._ He flicked the switch and reluctantly looked at his reflection in the mirror.

His face was scar-free, which was pretty lucky. But other than that…oh, man. His upper arms were covered in white scars. His forearms had some marks too, but it wasn't as bad. As far as Tadashi knew, at this point in the healing process they would still be swollen and red. But the scars looked months old. Tadashi smiled slightly. _This could have been so much worse!_ _Wow. Demigod healing is nothing to sneeze at, huh? If only I'd known about them when I was programming Baymax._ Encouraged by the somewhat healthy appearance of his front, Tadashi turned around to inspect his back. That was where the worst burns had been. What he saw made him flinch.

Unlike the healed burns on his arms, these were still red, shiny, and warped looking. Sure, there were no remaining wounds, but he still looked like crap. There was hardly any skin left that hadn't been mutilated by the fire. _Oh, man…_ Not that bad, Will had said. What the hell kid of injuries could that guy have treated for him to say Tadashi's scars weren't _bad?_ "Okay, okay…let's not get caught up in this. I can hide these pretty easily. At least I don't look like I'm going to go on a three year quest to restore my honor." Tadashi muttered to himself with a small smile. He was alive, he was pretty much well. Things could be a whole lot worse. He slipped the shirt on and tried to smooth down his hair, which was even messier than Hiro's usually was. _I'll be fine._

Will was there waiting when he exited the bathroom. "You good to go?"

Tadashi nodded. "Where to first?"

"The forges. Your siblings can take it from there. Remind them to take you to the armory. I know Hephaestus kids usually make their own weapons, but you need something for the game tonight and there isn't time." Will advised as they walked out the door.

 _Weapons for Capture the Flag?_ Tadashi now had the sneaking suspicion that this wasn't going to be any game. _They've told me stories about how they fight and things like that. Do they really expect me to do it?_ Tadashi wasn't exactly aggressive. He didn't like violence. That was more of GoGo's strong point.

He forgot about his misgivings when he finally saw the camp, though. A stream ran right by the house they had been in, and on the other side of that there were huge strawberry fields. He saw that the camp was actually a huge valley, for the entire thing was ringed by hills. To the north there was the ocean, though Tadashi couldn't see it from here. He'd been told it was the Long Island Sound. There were odd-looking buildings scattered here and there. On the other side of the strawberry fields was a building that was issuing lots of smoke as well as another that reminded Tadashi of a coliseum. Farther off, closer to the ocean, there was a close cluster of colorful buildings. He couldn't really see them that well from here. The stream running by was flowing down from a lake just a little ways away from the riotous hodge-podge of architectural mayhem. (He was later told that these were the cabins for the various gods and goddesses.)

"Pretty impressive, huh?" A new voice asked—it wasn't Will. Tadashi turned around and saw Nico casually leaning against the porch railing.

"Where did you come from?" Tadashi asked curiously. The younger boy shrugged.

"I was just over by the lake with a few others. Percy threw Annabeth in the water and I left before it could become a full-blown couple's fight."

Will snickered. "Made you feel lonely, did it?"

"Shut up, Will." Even though he sounded irritated, Nico was smiling at the blond boy. Tadashi glanced back and for the between them. Nico _had_ been around a lot whenever Will was checking up on Tadashi. _Could they be…together?_ It wasn't like it mattered to Tadashi either way. It was their business, and if they wanted to tell people then they could.

"Um…the forge?" Tadashi asked.

"Oh, yeah. Let's go." Will hopped off the porch and Tadashi followed after him. With Nico as an addition to their little group, they set of across the camp. They crossed the stream on a tiny wooden bridge and strolled through the strawberry fields. Wasn't it a little early in the year for them to be this ripe? _Ah, whatever. I'm at a camp for freaking_ demigods. _It's not the weirdest thing that's happened._

The ground sloped up a bit as they neared the forge, which happened to be the smoking building Tadashi had spotted a minute ago. It was an odd piece of work, with modern looking smokestacks poking out from between Ancient Greek columns. Everything was stained black with soot.

"Here we are." Will announced when they were just outside the door. Well, it wasn't really a door, just an open hole in the wall. _It would probably be way too hot if they closed everything up,_ Tadashi decided. Will and Nico headed in in front of him. "I brought someone to see you all!" The son of Apollo called.

Just as Tadashi crossed the threshold, there was a loud metallic crash from inside. "Get down!" Someone called frantically. The two demigods in front of him dropped to the floor immediately, but Tadashi barely had time to throw his arms up before a wave of fire came directly at him. _No, no, no! Don't hit me!_ He thought frantically. And, oddly enough, the flames parted on either side of him.

He heard a loud sigh coming from inside, and looked up to see Leo—he must have made the flames avoid Tadashi. "Sorry! That was too close. You don't need to get burned up again!" The boy was standing in front of something that looked like a cross between a gargoyle and a dragon. The thing's jaw was wide open, and Tadashi suspected that the wave of fire had come from its mouth. _That's so dangerous!_

"Well, there you have it. The forge. Come on Nico, let's go before they try to set us on fire again." Will said. He and Nico turned around and headed back out the door. As they passed, Tadashi thought he heard Nico whisper, "Good luck."

Suddenly Tadashi was alone with eight people he hardly knew. He laughed awkwardly. "Is that how you normally greet people?"

"Only him." A girl with brown hair under a bandana said, nodding to Leo. Tadashi remembered that her name was Nyssa.

Leo shrugged sheepishly. "Hey, I said I was sorry!"

"Just because you're immune to fire doesn't mean the rest of us are!" Nyssa scolded. "I know Jake asked you to fix his monster, but try to keep the destruction to a minimum."

"Well, then maybe Jake should be here to make sure this thing doesn't burn down the forge. Where is he, anyway?" Leo asked.

"Scouting the woods for tonight." One of the others informed. "He wants to find the best places to plant traps."

"Traps?" Tadashi asked curiously.

"Yep. We're playing against both Jason _and_ the Ares cabin, so we have to pull out all the stops." Leo told him. "But we do have the Apollo cabin and Nico on our side, so it should be an interesting game. But you can learn the battle plan later. I'm head counselor, so it's my job to show you the ropes. Come on!"

Tadashi approached cautiously, keeping an eye out for anything that looked likely to 'malfunction' and attack him. And, from what Leo told him about the various projects scattered around the worktables, it seemed there were plenty of things that could do just that. There were swords, shields, and armor here and there, but his half-siblings were also working on things like special arrows that returned to the quiver after being shot, a full sized mechanical Pegasus (apparently there were also lots of real ones at camp as well), and what looked like a Taser but was actually a flamethrower. What was it with these kids and fire?

Leo was right in the middle of showing Tadashi a special suit of armor that a girl called Lucy was working on. Said girl was supposedly scouting the woods with Jake. "See how the bracers are so thick? If you press this button here," Leo was holding up one of the pieces and pressed a tiny button at one end. "Blades pop out."

"Do you guys try to hide weapons in everything?" Tadashi asked. "Isn't it a bit of overkill?

"It's never overkill when there are a bunch of monsters after you." Leo shrugged. "You always need some kind of defense. And then a backup plan. And then a backup plan for the backup plan."

 _Do they really?_ From what Leo was saying, it sounded like there were a whole lot of demons out there just waiting to get at a tasty demigod. But Tadashi had never fought a monster in his life! Maybe he'd seen the odd looking creature here and there, but he'd always attributed that to big city craziness.

"Speaking of defense, you need a weapon for tonight." Leo continued. "Lots of the others make their own, but we can get to that later. Come on, the armory is just out back." Leo gestured to a back door—which, unlike the front, was actually a door. He led Tadashi through it.

Outside, there was a flat square of earth with targets and practice dummies. On the other side of it was a fairly large normal looking tool shed. "For testing." Leo explained. "We don't want our stuff going crazy after we give it to other demigods, so we have to make sure it's safe. I still remember that stupid mosquito killing robot."

"Excuse me?"

"Oh, that was back when I first got here. Chris tried to make a little mechanical centaur that shod down mosquitoes, but it just shot everything in sight. Almost put my eye out, that thing."

A mosquito robot? It sounded like something Hiro would try to make. "What ever happened to it?"

"I'm not sure. I went cross country the next day and after I got back I never saw it again." Leo shrugged. He opened the door to the shed, and Tadashi did a double take when he saw what was inside. Swords, axes, suits of Greek style armor, and for some reason, a _rocket launcher._ Why was there a rocket launcher? Leo laughed at Tadashi's stunned look. "Impressive, huh? This is where we store most of the extra weapons and armor. Athena has a bunch of stuff too, but we've got the best there is."

The best certainly was impressive. "What do you fight with?"

"Oh, uh, I'm not usually carrying a weapon. I wasn't on the front lines very often. Usually it's just my fire." Leo lit his hand on fire for a moment, then let it go out. "But I use a hammer when I need something."

That option didn't exactly appeal to Tadashi. Neither did arrows, he wasn't a very good shot. Swords were just…too deadly. He felt like they left few options besides seriously injuring or killing your opponent.

Tadashi scanned the shelves, halfway hoping the perfect weapon would somehow pop up out of nowhere. Wait…what was that? On the edge of a shelf near the back of the shed…a screwdriver? Tadashi picked it up and looked at it closely. Nothing seemed special about it, apart from the fact that it was bronze with a leather grip instead of metal and plastic. "Did someone leave this here?" Tadashi asked, showing the tool to Leo.

The other demigod squinted at the screwdriver for a minute, then his face lit up. "Oh! I remember that thing. Can I see?" Tadashi handed it over. "This was one of the first weapons I ever made. I was trying to get the hang of transforming things. It's not just a screwdriver, watch this _."_ Leo twirled the screwdriver in his hand like a mini baton. Out of nowhere, the tiny screwdriver exploded into a full sized spear that was even taller than Leo. It was made entirely out of bronze, from the leaf shaped blade to the spike at the bottom. Leo handed the now deadly weapon back to Tadashi.

"It's heavier than before. How does that make _any_ sense?" Tadashi asked incredulously.

"Magic. I had a hard time understanding it at first, and I still don't like enchanted weapons, but that's the answer." Leo told him. "Still, it's pretty impressive if I do say so myself. It's also fireproof, but you shouldn't have a problem with that. What do you think?"

Tadashi held the spear in both hands. It was heavy, but not unbearably so. He spun it around a little, trying to get a feel for it. _This is bizarre. I'm a college student, not a warrior!_ But he kept his misgivings to himself. "Not bad, kid."

"Don't call me a kid, I'm not that much younger than you!" Leo cried indignantly. "It's because I'm short, isn't it?"

Tadashi laughed at his dramatic expression. But he didn't get a chance to reply before a horn sounded. "What's that?"

"It's time to go eat." Leo informed him. "Then we gear up for the game. You'll love it. It's kind of terrifying at first, but then it's totally awesome."

Tadashi didn't know about running after each other with deadly weapons being awesome. "How do I turn this thing into a screwdriver again?"

"Just twirl it around like I did." Leo told him. Tadashi repeated the action and the wickedly sharp blade shrunk until it was once again no larger than a pencil. He slipped the thing into his pocket. "Come on, you don't want to be late!"

They left the armory and joined up with the rest of the Hephaestus cabin as they were exiting the forge. The group formed a rough line with Leo at the front—that was kind of odd, since he didn't seem like the leader type. Kids were heading to the dining pavilion from all parts of the camp. Looking around at them, Tadashi spotted only a few that seemed his age. What happened to the demigods when they reached adulthood, did they just leave?

Most of the Hephaestus kids sat down at one table, but a few, including Leo, went to sit with other friends. When most everyone was settled, girls—Nyssa told him they were nymphs—came by with platters of food. Tadashi almost started eating, but then he noticed that everyone was getting up to form a line. He raised an eyebrow but followed, wondering what this was about. Tadashi was further confused when he saw that the campers were taking turns scraping part of their food into the fire.

"Why—"

"Burnt offerings for the gods." Shane said from behind him. "Kind of a respect thing, you know?"

"Um, okay." _They have really weird customs here. Why would gods like burning food?_ Tadashi wondered as he took his place in front of the fire. As he scraped a bit of his dinner into the flames, he sent a silent prayer to his father. _If you're really out there…if you can hear me, look after Hiro. He's hurting right now and he needs someone to be there for him._

Tadashi took his place back at the Hephaestus table. They were a lively bunch, to be sure. Maybe not as loud as the Apollo or Hermes groups, but they made an effort to include him in their conversations. He learned that Jake had almost been killed by Leo's mechanical dragon (which he had yet to see) and that even though Harley was only nine, he could already create fully function automaton animals (this bit of knowledge became apparent when a robot beetle scuttled across the table).

Soon enough though, Chiron the centaur called the camp to order. "Now that we have all been fed, it is time for the game to begin!"

The other man sitting at the head table sighed dramatically. "Please try not to kill each other. I don't want to have your parents yelling at me. What a headache."

Shane nudged Tadashi's elbow. "That's Dionysus." He whispered. Tadashi had heard about the wine god being present at camp, but this was the first time he'd laid eyes on the immortal. Tadashi wasn't very impressed.

Chiron gave a forced smile at Dionysus's words. "Yes, as Mr. D says, no killing. Deliberate maiming is also against the rules. As usual, the creek is the boundary. The first team that takes their opponents' flag across is the winner! Now, arm yourselves and prepare for battle!"

Tadashi, somewhat confused by the command, turned back to the others. He jumped slightly when he realized that the leftovers from dinner had been replaced by various pieces of armor and the occasional weapon. When had _that_ happened? _What is this, Hogwarts?_ The rest of the Hephaestus kids were already suiting up like this was a normal occurrence. Tadashi just decided to roll with it. His siblings helped him put on the armor, and once he was done he felt completely ridiculous. The worst part was the helmet. Really, who designed the stinking horsehair plume? He felt like a cosplayer gone wild.

Campers were flying around the pavilion, gradually grouping into the red and blue teams. "Yo, Tadashi!" Leo called from behind him. He turned and found the boy standing arm in arm with Calypso, who looked ten kinds of deadly with her sword and armor. He reminded himself not to cross that girl. "You're with us tonight. We're going to go scouting for the flag in enemy territory." Leo added quietly when he reached them.

Out of nowhere, Nico appeared, Will at his side. "Don't forget us!" The son of Apollo said brightly. "I'm sticking with you to make sure you don't do anything stupid."

"And I'm coming because he's useless in one on one combat." Nico added with a smirk.

"Am not!" Will replied indignantly.

" _Anyway,_ " Leo continued, rolling his eyes, "It'll be the five of us. If the other team comes after us, get away as fast as you can. You won't last long if you get cornered."

Tadashi nodded. _Let's hope that doesn't happen._ He'd just gotten out of the infirmary, he didn't fancy going back.

"Heroes!" Chiron called, "To your stations!" The blue team raised a banner with a lightning bolt and eagle. Tadashi's team, the red, raised a silver flag with an owl. The camp answered with a cheer, and kids started heading into the woods. Tadashi stayed with his team. He was glad that he'd met them all before, it made for less awkwardness. He listened to them chatter excitedly as they approached their base, which was by a giant rock pile in the south woods. _I wonder how the gang is doing. Has Honey Lemon blown up her lab again? Is GoGo's bike fast enough?_ He missed his friends.

The blue team was milling about the clearing. "Yo! Circle up, everyone!" A male camper called from on top of the rocks. He had blond hair and gray eyes, a trait Tadashi was beginning to associate with the Athena kids. "Everyone know their jobs? We've got Leo, Lou Ellen, and Piper leading raiding parties. Hazel is leading the flag defense group. The rest of you are either on borders or scattered in our woods. Ready?" The same horn that signaled dinner sounded again, loud and clear. "That's the signal! Get going, everyone!"

Tadashi's group split off from the rest. "Anything in particular I should or shouldn't do?" He asked.

"Once we cross the stream, try to be a quiet as possible. That's enemy territory." Will advised. "We could take one or two, but we don't want to draw attention to ourselves if we can help it."

"We could always have Will run off as a decoy though." Nico added.

"I do that _one time_ and you never let it go!" Will complained, but he was smiling.

"Sorry, holding grudges is a fatal flaw for children of Hades." The dark haired boy teased. Tadashi rolled his eyes.

"Can you two stop flirting for five minutes?" He asked jokingly, but froze when he saw the looks the couple was giving him. "Wait, are you not dating?"

Leo looked confused. "Jeez, how much did I miss? Since when is Nico gay?"

Nico looked like a deer caught in the headlights. If Tadashi had to guess, he was probably thinking about running away. That or attacking everyone. Will grabbed his hand before he could attempt either and gave the rest of them a quick smile. "Since always. It's not our fault you're too much of a flame brain to realize it."

 _Oh, crap. They must have been keeping it a secret._ Tadashi wanted to hit himself. "Sorry. It's not our business."

"You're…uncomfortable with people knowing?" Calypso asked.

"Considering what they did to homosexuals where I grew up, of course I am." Nico said grouchily.

"It is not that unusual. There have been people like you since the beginning of my life—why, even Apollo had many male lovers. Zeus as well." The nymph told him gently. "There is nothing wrong with who you are."

"Can we just get back to the game? I'm not interested in having this discussion right now." Nico huffed. "We're just big targets for the blue team."

"Um, yeah. Come on, the stream is this way." Leo replied. But, judging from the look on his face, he'd be asking more questions when he got the chance. _Let's just hope he isn't too nosy._

The five of them walked in extremely awkward silence for a few more minutes. When Tadashi started to hear the sound of rushing water, they paused.

"I'll go make sure the way is clear." Nico whispered. "We don't want to get caught by border patrol." The dark haired boy creeped into the large bushes in front of them. A minute or two later, he poked his head back out. "We're good. Hurry up, though, there may be blues nearby."

"Weapons out, guys. We're going into enemy territory." Will whispered as he drew an arrow. Calypso unsheathed her sword and Leo pulled a hammer out of his ever present tool belt—how did that even fit in there? Nico took the ring off his right hand and it morphed into a black bladed sword. Tadashi pulled the screwdriver out of his pocket and spun it. Just as before, it shifted into a glittering spear.

Now armed for battle, the five crept towards the stream. It looked like it was seven or eight feet across, and pretty shallow. Nothing too difficult. The water was pretty cold when Tadashi stepped into it. No surprises there, this was New York in spring. They reached the other side without too much trouble. The water had barely even met Tadashi's knees.

Everyone else seemed to shrink in on themselves after the crossing. Tadashi kept his head low and hoped his ridiculous helmet wasn't too obvious. But of course it was. They made their way slowly, but it wasn't very long before Tadashi heard someone's voice from a little ways off. Emphasis on little.

"Conner, Travis, do you see anything?" The person, who had to be a boy, asked. There were two negative replies. "Frank? What about you?"

"Nothing!" Oh, no. That one was even closer!

"Piper?"

"I don't see anyone!" A fifth voice called back, this one female.

Calypso got the rest of the red group's attention. "Come on, down here!" She gestured to a particularly large patch of vegetation, and the five of them dove into it.

"Jason and Frank at the same time. Our luck is terrible!" Leo cursed.

Will was peering through the bushes, trying to spot the other team. "I think it's just them and the Stoll brothers. Should we wait it out or run?"

"We need to run." Nico told him. "Most of us aren't frontline fighters. If they spot us we'll never find the flag."

"Where do we go, then?" Tadashi asked. He crept up beside Will to spy on the opposing team. He spotted four boys in a tight group. "There could be more of these guys nearby."

"Come on, this way!" Leo whispered fiercely. "I think it's clear."

Nico shook his head before the Latino boy could go very far. "We can't, there's—"

"Hurry up and decide! The blues are coming this way!" Tadashi ordered. Jason's group hadn't caught sight of them yet, but it was only a matter of time.

"We don't have time to argue! Just go!" Will said. He grabbed Nico's hand and tugged him in the direction Leo had been pointing. Together, the five of them sneaked through the forest. Any faster and the noise would have alerted their enemy.

Bu some miracle, nobody came after them. Tadashi was so focused on not tripping over his own feet—this armor was so bulky, he could totally design something better—that he didn't notice the rest of the group coming to a stop. He crashed into Calypso on accident.

The girl ignored him. She was staring at Leo, who had frozen in his tracks. "Are you all right?"

Tadashi followed his gaze and was surprised to see that they'd stumbled upon a bronze statue that stood in the middle of a small, round clearing. The workmanship was amazing—it was an incredibly detailed dragon caught mid-flight. The creature's jaws were wide open, expelling a constant stream of flame. There was a rider on its back, his face contorted into a wild grin. Wait a minute, Tadashi _knew_ that grin. It belonged to the stunned demigod standing right in front of him.

The rider was Leo.

Oh. _Oh._ Leo remembered Piper's words on his first day back. "It was a memorial. A memorial…for the heroes we lost in the final battle with Gaea." _They built…for me…_

Calypso put a hand on his shoulder. "Leo, are you all right?"

Leo couldn't really answer her. It was beginning to hit him how much his friends had been convinced that he was really gone for good. Sure, they'd told him that they missed him and everything, but for them to make something like this…Leo couldn't imagine what they'd been feeling. He spotted a plaque inscribed with Ancient Greek lettering at the base of the statue. "To all those lost in the Giant War." He read, "And to the hero who ended it all. Leo Valdez, whose soul burned brighter than any other."

Nobody spoke for a moment. The little clearing was as quiet as could be until…

"Found them!" Jason's voice called. "Let's take out the invaders! Blue team, charge!"

Leo whipped around. _Crap_! He'd forgotten they were being followed. He and the rest took battle stances. Well, Leo didn't, really. He sort of just set his hammer on fire and hoped he looked menacing. Demigods poured into the clearing. "Nico! Take Tadashi and get back to our flag!" If anyone could make it out, the son of Hades could.

"I don't think so!" Frank yelled, and charged Nico before he could grab Tadashi and get away. They began a fierce looking duel.

"I'll help him. Don't worry!" Calypso hefted her sword and ran at the duo. _Come on Leo, pay attention._ Leo shook his head. He needed to concentrate on his own fight. So, against his better judgement, he ran at Jason.

Okay, this was a _terrible_ idea. With just a few blows Jason had Leo on the defensive. And Leo got the feeling that his best friend wasn't even going all out. An arrow whizzed past his head from wherever Will had ran off to. "Watch it, Solace!"

"Stop shooting!" Piper called from somewhere.

"Stop talking!" Will retorted. But the arrows stopped—Piper's charmspeak was just as powerful as ever. Leo heard the son of Apollo yell in frustration.

Out of nowhere, something slammed into Leo and sent him crashing to the ground. Well, he would have hit the ground if Tadashi wasn't in the way.

Looking up, he saw that Conner Stoll was the one responsible. "That's just rude!" Leo told him, scrambling back up. Tadashi got back on his feet and stood shoulder to shoulder with him. Soon they were surrounded by both Stoll brothers and Jason. _Okay, this isn't good._

"Ready to surrender, Leo?" Jason asked with a smile.

"Not on your life!" Leo grinned wildly. _It's time to pull out the big guns._ "Tadashi! Get down!" As soon as his half-brother dropped, Leo lit both hands on fire. He lobbed a fireball at each opponent. Leo made sure they only hit armor. It didn't hurt them, but it was enough to make them step back. "Ha! I'm too hot for you, Grace!"

"Is that so?" Jason spun his sword around and suddenly it was a spear, long enough to reach Leo. He vaguely remembered Jason doing that with his gladius towards the end of their quest. "Then try this!"

Jason pulled back his arm and made to throw the spear. Leo dropped to the ground as soon as it left his hand. Everything would have been fine—if Tadashi wasn't right in its path.

Leo's brother yelled and threw his hands up for a shield. It wouldn't have been all that effective normally. But this definitely wasn't a normal situation. Because just before the spear connected with Tadashi's body, a huge wave of fire burst out from him. Leo's eyes widened in shock. _How?_

It was supposed to be an incredibly rare ability. And Tadashi had been burned. Leo had seen the wounds. They were terrible, just like they would be on any normal person.

How could Tadashi be _another_ fire user?

 **Well, that was a beast of a chapter, eh? I hope you liked my little twist~ Please review!**


	8. Up In Smoke

**Ya gotta love those _fucking_ mornings where you're woken up at 7:30 by people doing dishes and mowing the lawn. Ugh, I'm irritated. But back on subject...Everyone seemed a bit irked my my last cliffhanger...heh. Well, here you have the explanation for Tadashi's powers! I really like the way it came out. And I hope you like the not-so subtle references in this chapter~**

"Tadashi! Get down!" Leo yelled. Judging from the wild look on his face, he had a plan. Tadashi dropped to his knees just seconds before Leo threw three very large and dangerous fireballs at the kids surrounding them. _Dang it, Leo, you could really hurt someone like that!_ As Tadashi was getting back on his feet Leo cackled wildly. "I'm too hot for you, Grace!" Seriously, sometimes Tadashi worried about this guy's sanity.

The one who'd been leading, Jason, smiled grimly. "Is that so?" He asked, spinning his golden sword. Tadashi thought he was just showing off, but a second later, Jason was holding a _spear,_ not unlike the one Tadashi had. _I really shouldn't be too surprised, mine can turn into a screwdriver._ "Then try this!" Jason pulled back his arm like he was going to throw the spear—then, as Leo ducked out of the way, he realized that was exactly what Jason was doing.

It was too late for Tadashi to dodge. He felt a flash of panic that made it seem like his entire body was on fire. He threw his arms up, cursing himself for not grabbing a shield while he could. _No…No!_

And suddenly, the hot feeling that had flooded his body literally exploded outward in a rush of red and gold fire. That's right, _fire._

It had been bright enough to catch the attention of everyone else who had been fighting around them. "Watch it, Leo!" One of them scolded. "This is just a game!"

Leo himself was staring at Tadashi in awe. He had been so close when the wave of fire sprang into existence that he should have been horrifically burned. But he was fine, albeit a little shocked. "Guys…that wasn't me." Suddenly it dawned on the others why he was staring at Tadashi.

"He's—" One of the Hermes guys began,

"Like you?" His brother finished.

"How?" The two chorused.

The big Asian guy, Frank, was the next to speak. He looked right at Tadashi. "I thought fire users were supposed to be crazy rare. And you got burned before, you aren't immune like Leo is!"

Tadashi was even more shocked than the rest of them. _How did I even do that?_ _I could have really hurt one of them or worse. If it hadn't been Leo next to me…_ The fact that he could have just seriously injured or killed one of his new friends was disturbing him more than the fact that he seemed like a firebender brought to life. (Honey had made him watch that show.) Tadashi had seen a lot of unusual or 'impossible' things already. He just couldn't seem to understand why _him,_ and why _now._ How come he'd never been aware of this power before? "I have no idea what's going on. Did I really just do that? _Why_ did I do that?"

Nobody answered him.

"Let me explain." A low, rough voice suddenly announced. It certainly didn't belong to anyone that Tadashi had met so far. The ten demigods looked around for the source of the noise. Tadashi let out a curse of alarm when he saw the plume of smoke that had suddenly erupted behind him, right next to the memorial statue. "Don't make such a fuss, it's only me." The smoke gradually took the form of a large, less than attractive man with an extremely bushy beard. He seemed oddly familiar…

"L-Lord Hephaestus!" Piper stuttered.

Leo raised an eyebrow. "Dad? What are you doing here?"

Dad. Of _course._ That's why Tadashi recognized him! He was a bit wilder in appearance, and his beard had never been full of sparks before, but Tadashi knew for certain that this was his father. He was here, he was _here,_ he was alive and Tadashi hadn't seen him in over a decade. How could he do that? He was a god though, not just Tadashi's father. But why had he come here now, instead of all the countless times Tadashi had needed him? _First I summon fire out of nowhere and then my dad that I thought was dead for eleven years pops up. This really is a weirdness overload._ It would have thrown even Fred for a loop.

The god grunted at Leo. "Told you we'd talk later, didn't I? I've certainly got some explaining to do." He turned to Tadashi. "I was waiting for that to happen. Telling you about the power would have been useless before you were ready to use it."

"So you _knew_ I could do that. You knew I could, and you never…" Tadashi trailed off. He was still having trouble believing that the huge wave of flames had come from him.

Hephaestus shrugged. "Nothing was for sure until the fire at your showcase."

"What do you mean?" Tadashi asked, dumbfounded. How had that fire decided anything?

Hephaestus glanced at the other assembled demigods. "I'd like to keep this between me and my sons, if you don't mind."

"Oh. Yeah, sure! Come on guys." Jason said quickly. He and Leo shared a look before the blond demigod led the rest of them away. Calypso patted Leo on the shoulder before she went. And soon enough, it was just Tadashi and Leo standing there alone with their father.

The situation was, to put it simply, awkward as hell.

"So…what exactly just happened?" Tadashi asked.

Hephaestus shrugged and scratched the back of his head like he was trying to decide how to explain. "Well, I know you must be more confused than a drunk Apollo, but I should probably start at the beginning." He took another pause before beginning.

"I like to keep an eye on all my kids. The two of you are no exception. I don't know if you've been told this, Tadashi, but almost two years ago we gods made a promise to claim all our Greek children and send them to camp by age thirteen. Immediately if they were older than that already. I did that with all my other sons and daughters, but you and Hiro were an exception. That's because you had no idea who you really were, and at the rate things were going you wouldn't have to find out. Normally, use of electronics or modern mortal technology in general attracts monsters if a demigod is using it. But you and Hiro were safe from that because of the city you lived in. San Fransokyo has so much advanced technology, so many things going on, that it was a sensory overload to any monster that came near. So they avoid the city entirely."

"So if you had your way me and Hiro would have never found out…" Tadashi narrowed his eyes. Not that he liked the seemingly extremely dangerous life that demigod heritage entailed, but it was kind of a big deal! _I always thought he died along with Mom in that car crash. Why couldn't he have just talked to us at least once?_

"You were safer that way. I know you must be angry at me for pretending to die along with Hikari, but I couldn't stay forever. I'd already been involved with her for way too long." Hephaestus answered. His voice was gruff as always, but there may have been some sympathy in it.

"So," Leo interrupted, probably trying to ease the uncomfortable mood, "The fire. You were talking like it had something to do with Tadashi's powers. How?"

"Fire is part of my essence." Hephaestus answered. "Like the affinity for mechanics, it is passed down to each and every one of my children. Deep down, all of your siblings have the ability to manipulate fire."

"What's the difference, then?" Leo asked.

"You're blessed with immunity. You were born with that, and the ability to control fire. The rest of my children have to earn it." Hephaestus took a moment to think. "It's like this: to awaken demigod powers, you have to experience a close connection with your realm of control. It is very easy to be close to machines, to work with them, build them, and be connected with them. You can do so relatively safely. That's why nearly all of my children are excellent craftsmen, because they're around machines all the time. The same goes for Percy Jackson, being around water so often, and Nico di Angelo, spending so much time in the underworld. Fire is a blessing, but it is also infinitely dangerous. You can spend an entire day in a forge, but that's not close enough to light the spark."

Tadashi thought back to the roaring blaze in the exhibition hall, of how powerful the flames had been. The forge Leo had shown him earlier was nothing compared to it. He'd been surrounded by fire. And if the burn scars on his back were anything to judge by, he had certainly _connected_ with it. He briefly remembered earlier, when the wave of flame had come from the gargoyle statue. Had it actually been Tadashi that parted the fire, instead of Leo?

"It's rare and it's dangerous." Hephaestus continued. "You can still be burned like any other person, so you'll have to be careful or you could wind up really hurting yourself."

Tadashi didn't like the sound of that. And the risk of hurting everyone around him he liked even less. "Not that I don't appreciate you sending Leo to get me out of there—"

"I was doing it anyway." Leo cut in

"But this fire control thing…can't you take it back? It's not me. I don't want to…I don't want to hurt anyone." What if he tried to use his fire and lost control? _I don't even know how to_ use _it, let alone control it!_

Hephaestus shook his head. "No can do. It's a part of you now, and you'll just have to deal with it."

Leo gave Tadashi a wry smile. "Don't worry, big guy. If there's anyone out there who can train you better than I can I'll let the Aphrodite cabin dress me for a week. Even if you go nuts I'll be fine."

"And now that _that_ explanation's out of the way, there's something else I must do before I go." Hephaestus focused on Leo now. Tadashi thought he might have grinned through his beard. "It has been centuries, boy, _centuries_ since I've seen a performance like that one. Magnificent ingenuity aside, about half of the council wanted to nominate you for immortality because of your bravery." Tadashi blinked and shook his head, not quite believing what his dad had just said. _I've been hearing this and that about Leo, but how much did he really do in their last war?_

Leo seemed taken aback at this sudden change in subject. He laughed nervously. "Thanks, but…"

"Doesn't appeal to you, huh?" Hephaestus chuckled. "I thought not. You're like Jackson, life with your mortal friends and love—yes, Calypso is mortal now that she's left her island—is better than anything Olympus could offer. Well, good for you, son. Still, you saved pretty much everyone. It wouldn't be right for you to not be rewarded."

"I don't need anything." Leo smiled earnestly. "Things staying as they are is fine with me."

Hephaestus smiled proudly at Leo. "Don't worry, I won't embarrass you for much longer. Come here."

Leo glanced at Tadashi for a second, and they both shrugged. Slowly, Leo walked up to their father until he was standing right in front of him. Hephaestus put one of his large, soot-stained hands on Leo's forehead and muttered something. Tadashi couldn't really understand what he was saying—if he had to guess, he'd say his father was speaking Greek—but he thought it had something to do with fire (of course), strength, and renewal. For a second Hephaestus's hand glowed red, and then he stopped chanting. He stepped back and nodded in a satisfied manner. "That should do it. Now you can replenish your energy with fire."

Leo cocked his head. "Huh? How?"

"You eat it." Tadashi's jaw dropped. Had he heard that right?

"I _what?_ "

"Eat fire, regain power. As long as it's not your own." Hephaestus laughed at Leo's appalled look. "Anyway, I should be getting back to Olympus. Good luck—to both of you."

And with no further warning, Hephaestus disappeared in a cloud of smoke and flame. Leo grinned at Tadashi and laughed like a madman. "Oh my gods…I can't believe he _did_ that."

"What?"

"He turned me into a freaking _dragon slayer!_ "

Leo was in a spectacular mood for the rest of the evening. By the time he and Tadashi were finished talking with their father, the game had finished. Apparently as soon as the others had left, Nico shadow-traveled the rest of the red team away, and in a stroke of luck they'd appeared right by the blue team's flag. Now the banner bore the symbol of Hades.

All night Leo kept going on about this one anime and how he was even more badass than the main character now. (Who, apparently had powers very similar to him) All Tadashi got was that the guy had pink hair and caused a lot of property damage. After a bit of goofing off and showing off, the demigods had gone off to bed.

The Hephaestus cabin was pretty impressive. The vault door seemed like a bit of overkill, but the messy workshop inside reminded him of home. Apparently some of the beds retracted into private underground rooms, but the others stayed in the main part of the cabin. They said it was tradition whenever a new sibling came to camp. Tadashi said they didn't need to do it, that he wasn't a kid, but they had all joked and teased and insisted.

Nice gesture aside, Tadashi thought he'd never be able to sleep. The same things kept going through his mind—he was a demigod, he could control fire, and pretty much everyone he'd known before thought he was dead. It had been easier to forget all the supernatural things that were happening back when he was still recovering. He could simply pretend that he was recovering in an unusual hospital. But here he was, a demigod with a dangerous power and no idea how to control it. _I need to go home, Hiro needs me…but I can't until I know I won't hurt him by accident._ He'd start training with Leo first thing in the morning. This was the last thought to cross Tadashi's mind before he slipped into an uneasy sleep. Why uneasy? Well, as soon as he'd fallen asleep he started dreaming.

It started out normal enough, with Tadashi just sitting on his bed in his room. Hiro was standing by his desk on the other side. The boy picked up Megabot and turned around, but just as he lifted up the fighting machine its bottom segment crashed down on his foot. "Agh! Ah, _ow._ " Hiro staggered and landed on his bed.

"Hiro! Are you all right?" Tadashi sprang up and made to help his brother, but just as he passed the screen that divided the room there was a very familiar beeping noise coming from behind him. Curiously, Tadashi turned around, only to see Baymax inflating. _Why was he active?_

Tadashi stepped to one side and watched his brother and his robot stare awkwardly at each other. Baymax maneuvered around Tadashi's old bed painfully slowly, then walked up to Hiro and introduced himself with a wave. They had an awkward conversation that involved Baymax's pain chart and Hiro falling and having half his model robot collection come crashing down around him. Tadashi tried not to laugh, but Hiro's face when Baymax gave him a _puberty_ diagnosis, of all things, was priceless.

Then, out of nowhere the scene dissolved. Tadashi once again found himself in his room, but it seemed to be evening now. Baymax was half inflated and slumped against the wall, petting Mochi. Hiro dashed up the stairs and absentmindedly set down a plate of food. "Let's get you into your charging station." He grabbed the robot, and Baymax began stuttering incoherently. _Oh, he must have a low battery. He seems drunk, I wasn't expecting that._ Had he been on the whole day? If so, why?

Hiro flopped down on his bed and took something out of his pocket. "This doesn't make any sense…" Wait, was that a microbot?

"Tadashi." Baymax said suddenly. Tadashi himself looked up to find the robot awake and fully inflated. Also, staring right at him.

"Can you…see me?" Tadashi whispered. _How? This is a dream!_

Though the robot seemed fully aware, Hiro didn't seem to hear. To him, Tadashi realized, it would seem like Baymax was just looking at Tadashi's old baseball cap. He sighed and got up. Hiro dragged his feet as he crossed the room and kept his eyes on the floor. "Tadashi's…gone." Hiro muttered. Tadashi didn't miss the slump in his shoulders. Tadashi moved aside and watched as he closed the screen that divided their room. _Oh, no…Hiro. I'm not…damn it, this is all so messed up._

"When will he return?" Baymax asked in his usual chipper voice.

"He's dead, Baymax." Hiro announced in that same defeated tone.

"No, no, no. I'm right here, little bro. I'll be back soon! Just hang on." Tadashi pleaded—no response.

"Tadashi was in excellent health. With a proper diet and exercise, he should have lived a long life." Baymax continued.

"Yeah, he should have. But there was a fire…now he's gone." The last part of Hiro's answer was barely above a whisper. The guilt was swamping Tadashi now. _I've never seen him look this down. There was back when Mom died and Dad…left, but he was too young to understand. How could I put him through this?_

"Tadashi is here." Baymax spoke again, once again staring at where Tadashi was.

"You really can—"

"No!" Hiro cut Tadashi off. "People keep saying he's not 'really gone' as long as we remember him." Hiro sat down in his desk chair despondently. "It still hurts."

The way Hiro said it almost broke Tadashi's heart. It was then and there that Tadashi vowed to put everything he had into his training tomorrow. _I don't care if I work myself into the ground. I promise I'm coming back as soon as I can._

Just as soon as he made the promise, Tadashi's dream dissolved once more.

He was no longer in his bedroom. The setting this time was a dark, dirty warehouse. It was probably somewhere along the bay, judging from the telltale smell of low tide. Tadashi could hardly see anything, but a small group seemed to be standing not too far in front of him

"The boy grows suspicious." A voice cackled. The grating sound sent shivers down Tadashi's spine.

"You may no longer be safe here." A second one added. "He might interfere with your plans."

Tadashi was more than willing to bet that these voices weren't exactly human. He couldn't identify the gender of either speaker, and the two small, twisted forms that Tadashi guessed were the speakers looked far from normal. _They almost look like goblins or something._

"I and your mother are waiting for the battle to commence. Mistress Nyx is most eager to do her part as well." Another voice, this one distinctly female added. For some reason, she also sounded reptilian.

"I told you, I _told_ you, I'm not killing anyone but Krei. He deserves every pain that comes to him…" This man's voice was the first human sounding one Tadashi heard. He also _recognized_ it. _But this isn't possible! He was trapped in the fire and I never got to him! He's supposed to be dead._

But then again, so was Tadashi himself. Should he be so surprised that his teacher had somehow made it out?

"You and this…Nyx woman can do whatever you want to him once he's inside." _Inside what?_ "Just use the, err, monsters to keep all the civilians at bay, all right?"

"I will do what needs to be done." The snake-woman answered. "Your mother will be most pleased when you exact your revenge. Oh, what a grand spectacle this will be!"

"Stop that. We have work to do." Robert Callaghan answered seriously, then turned around and stormed off.

Tadashi had the feeling that things were going to get very serious _very_ soon.

 **Leo did need some kind of reward for what he did in the Giant War, so I ripped off Natsu. Sue me, but the powers fit. (Fairy Tail is the series he's from in case you didn't know.) FYI, Callaghan is a son of Nemesis in case you didn't figure that out. More and more demigods, woo! What were those tiny demons? Will Echidna use her monsters to attack Hiro? Do we have some secret half-bloods on the BH6 team besides Hiro himself? And what will Tadashi do about his dream? Review, and if you get any of these right I'll let you know!**

 **(In other news, I finished my Erza cosplay!)**


	9. Talks and Training

**It seems that my references were noticed~ And congrats to DaydreamDepartment, the only person to mention the Avatar one. This chapter may not seem terribly exciting, but it does set a few important things in motion. Also there's Caleo fluff at the end, so that has to count for something.**

"So, what did you feel when you used the fire last night?" Leo asked, "Anything strange? Any particular movements?"

Tadashi, Leo, and Calypso were all in a place called Bunker Nine, deep in the woods. Tadashi had talked earlier with Leo about where they would train, and according to Leo the regular combat arena was too public for them. "Just this first time though. We don't want everyone to be too blown away by our hotness!" Was what Leo had decided. _Translation: so you don't accidentally torch anyone._ Tadashi had thought. So they came to this old place in the woods. According to Leo it was where the children of Hephaestus worked on the projects that were either too big or too dangerous to be in the forge. Tadashi also heard the story about the Argo II, Leo's giant magic warship, being built here as well.

Their siblings and Leo's friends had wanted to come and help, but Tadashi had refused. Until he knew his limits, he wanted as few people around as possible. Calypso was the only one who'd refused to listen, mostly because she never asked if she could come—she just fell into step beside Leo when they'd made their way down here.

Tadashi was trying very hard not to think about his dream. It was too depressing and disturbing, and he had better things to do. "I'm not sure. All I knew was that the spear was going to hit me and that I really didn't want it to." Tadashi answered Leo's earlier question. They were currently in the middle of the cavernous room, standing in a newly made empty space. All the worktables had been pushed aside, and Leo was currently sitting cross-legged on one of them. Calypso was a little ways back. She'd pulled out a notebook of some kind and was watching the boys with an interested look on her face.

"It didn't tingle or anything? That sometimes happens when I don't use my fire for a while." Leo asked curiously. Privately, Tadashi thought it would be impossible for Leo to go more than a few hours without causing part of his body to spontaneously combust.

Tadashi thought back. "Well, maybe a little. There was this huge rush of energy."

Leo nodded. "Can you try to make some fire again?"

"How?"

"I don't know, man. When I need to use my fire I just want it to happen and it does...Wait, here's an idea." Leo jumped down from the table and held his right hand in front of him. A fireball then appeared right in his palm. "Try to move this. Make it grow, make it shrink, whatever."

Tadashi took a step forward hesitantly, staring at the little ball of flame. _All right, think back._ He remembered that his pulse had gotten faster. His entire body had seemed to be heating up. As Tadashi was recalling these particular sensations, he realized that they were manifesting in the present time. "Here goes nothing…" He muttered, and jerked a hand upward.

Leo's tiny fireball suddenly became a torch, a narrow pillar of flame that reached well above their heads. "Oh, crap!" Tadashi flinched, and the fire went out. Leo grinned.

"You did it! And you shut it off pretty fast, too. Not bad for an amateur."

Tadashi laughed uneasily. "Yeah, great."

"Now try to make your own fire. Just do whatever you did again." Leo encouraged.

Here things got a bit trickier. Tadashi tried to will the fire into being, but nothing happened for a minute. Just as he was about to try something different, a tiny bit of flame appeared, hovering just above his right palm. _It's hardly bigger than what you get from a lighter._ Pathetic though his fire was, Tadashi was a bit relieved that he hadn't exploded like before. And the fact still remained that _he was controlling magic fire with his MIND._ Dangerous, yes, but also pretty awesome.

"Watch out, we got a badass over here!" Leo laughed. "Good job. Now try to do something with what you've got."

Tadashi refocused on his little fire. _Get bigger._ He ordered silently, trying to funnel the odd rush of energy into it. Faster than Tadashi's eyes could follow, the flicker expanded, grew white hot, then blew up in his face. He fell backwards in surprise, landing hard on his butt. "Ow. That was…"

"Flashy?" Leo smirked, then helped Tadashi up. "Watch out, or you'll end up missing your eyebrows."

"Very funny." Tadashi rolled his eyes. "Maybe I could burn off some of that crazy mess you call hair."

Leo gasped dramatically, a playful light in his eyes. "Not the hair! No, you'll ruin my image!"

" _What_ image?" Calypso asked cheekily. Tadashi turned and saw her eyes glittering in amusement. He'd almost forgotten she was there. The notebook was still in her hands.

Leo did a Superman pose. "This one! You know you love it!"

Tadashi snickered, sensing a lengthy play fight coming. "So, back to my fire." He interrupted, not wanting to lose any time. "How do you think I can control it?"

For hours they worked, Leo suggesting all sorts of different things. More than once he had Tadashi shoot fire directly at him. Other times Tadashi had to divert the fire Leo sent his way. Tadashi summoned fire and practiced holding it at different levels of strength. As it was, by the time the morning was over Tadashi had scorch marks all over his clothes and his hands felt like they were going to start blistering. The more he used the fire, the more it felt like his skin was starting to burn up.

"I think that's enough for now." Leo said, panting. He'd just gone through a particularly challenging exercise with that involved the younger boy throwing as much fire at Tadashi as possible. Tadashi had had to use his own flames to block or else dodge. And now Tadashi's clothes were smoking. "Lunch should be pretty soon anyway."

"Good. I don't think I could take any more of this. I'm really beginning to question your teaching methods." Tadashi replied. "So, should we go?"

Leo shook his head. "You go on ahead. I'm going to hang back here for a minute, but tell the others I'll be there soon."

"If you're sure." Tadashi shrugged and turned to the massive doors. They'd left them open, because it became stiflingly hot in the windowless workshop. Especially when you added fire to the mix. As he walked out the doors, he thought he might have heard Leo and Calypso whispering behind him. _They're either talking about me or having a couple's moment._ Tadashi hoped it was the latter. He already suspected that half the camp was gossiping about his fire power. _I wish they wouldn't make such a big deal out of it._

At least he had some idea of how to control his power now. He was rapidly becoming familiar with the feeling he got right before using fire, and if he could reign it in, he'd be way less likely to burn something or someone on accident. Still, Tadashi didn't quite trust himself. _It's going well, but I can't slow down. I don't know why, but I get the feeling that dream I had last night is the beginning of something really dangerous._ Trouble was coming, Tadashi was sure. And knowing Hiro, he'd somehow end up right in the middle of it.

Suddenly a bush rustled, startling Tadashi out of his worried thoughts. He remembered what the other demigods had said about monsters sometimes roaming the woods.

"Hello? Anyone there?" Tadashi called out, hand hovering over the pocket that held his screwdriver/spear. When no reply came back, he decided that it was probably just a rabbit or something. But just as he started walking again…

"Hey! Wait up!" Tadashi didn't recognize the voice, but it sounded male. A second later, a boy with curly hair emerged from a particularly dense clump of foliage. Wait, were those horns on his head? And why were his legs covered in fur?

"You're a satyr." Tadashi realized. _I've seen them around but I haven't talked to one yet._

The boy nodded, brushing small bits of debris off his green shirt. "My name's Grover. You're that new Hephaestus camper, right? What are you doing out here alone?"

"I was training in Bunker 9 with Leo and Calypso. We were using fire, so…"

"Oh, you wanted to do it alone. Yeah, I heard about last night. You nearly burned Jason Grace's eyebrows off." Grover chuckled. "Though Leo probably would have done that on purpose."

Tadashi laughed humorlessly. "Yeah, it was hilarious. Really amazing." He lied through his teeth.

Grover gave him an appraising look. "Hey, I was just heading up to the dining pavilion. Mind if we walk together?"

 _That's a random request._ "Sure, I guess. I was going there too."

The two of them set off through the woods. They walked in silence for a few minutes. Grover was the first one to break it.

"The fire thing bothers you." It wasn't a question. "But there's something else going on, am I right?"

Tadashi shook his head. "Nothing you need to worry about. I'm fine." He didn't need everyone thinking he was even more of a freak who couldn't handle a bad dream.

But it looked like Grover wasn't buying it. "That's a lie and you know it. Satyrs can sense emotions, and I can tell there's something eating at you. Just tell me, maybe I can help."

Tadashi sighed. _Grover doesn't seem like the kind to tease…_ "The fire thing does bother me. I'm worried about losing control and hurting someone. And last night I dreamed about my brother…he really thinks I'm dead. And it was killing him."

Grover took a minute to reply. "You met Percy Jackson, right?" Tadashi nodded, wondering where Grover was going with this. "He's my best friend. And a little over a year ago, he went missing. Nobody could find the smallest hint as to where he'd gone. Annabeth was a wreck…It was hard on everyone. Then Jason, Piper, and Leo came to camp. Jason told us where Percy might be, but we still couldn't bring him home. We didn't even know if he was there in the first place."

Tadashi had heard the story of the Giant War a bunch of times by now. He'd known that Percy Jackson, who was pretty much as big of a hero as you could get, had been MIA for half a year. _I never heard it from someone who was very close to him…still, it's not the same thing._ "But you still knew he was alive, right? Everyone back home is convinced I'm gone for good."

"Listen to me." Grover looked him right in the eyes. "We didn't know if he was alive or dead, or if he even remembered us. But still, we all held on. We waited for him for six months. And don't even get me started on Leo! Everyone was convinced that he was dead and gone for even longer than that."

"Where are you going with this?"

Grover rolled his eyes. "My point is this: If we could make it for _months_ , your family and friends can handle a few weeks of thinking you're gone. I know it's hard to think about. They've got to be in a bad place right now. But they'll make it, I know they will."

Tadashi looked away. _He does have a point…but still, this is cruel._

"So, did you dream about anything else?" Grover asked in a significantly brighter tone.

 _Why would he care?_ Still, Tadashi was grateful for the change of subject. "About one of my college professors…the one I ran into the fire to save. I never found him, though. He must have died. My dream couldn't have been real."

"I don't know about that. Has anyone told you about demigod dreams?"

"Is there something I should know?"

"They're almost always true." Tadashi froze when Grover said this. The satyr got a few steps ahead before realizing it. He turned back, a cautious expression on his face. "What did you see?"

 _Professor Callaghan…those demons…and I'm pretty sure I heard the names of a couple goddesses…_ Tadashi recounted all of it for Grover. The satyr's expression turned grim.

"I don't know what those tiny demons were, but the bigger one sounds like Echidna. If she's working for Nyx…this can't be good. From the way you said it, it sounds like Callaghan might be a demigod too…I'd bet he's a son of Nemesis, if he's making a huge revenge plot." Grover looked like he was thinking hard.

As much as it disturbed him, the news that Callaghan might be like him wasn't all that surprising. Tadashi'd had the thought in the back of his mind since one of the monsters had mentioned Callaghan's mother.

"I'll ask Percy and see what he thinks, he met Nyx once." Grover nodded. He had on a brave face, but Tadashi got the feeling that the satyr was incredibly nervous. "See what your siblings have to say. And you should work on combat too, if there's a battle coming. Oh, gods…this reeks of trouble."

Tadashi nodded grimly. _Hiro, I'll be back as soon as I can…don't do anything stupid!_

* * *

As soon as Tadashi was out of earshot, Leo turned to Calypso. "So, what do you think?"

The girl shrugged. "In a setting like this, he's fine using his power. But if he had to do it in a fight, he'd have a higher risk of hurting himself. It would mess with his concentration."

"And that could get him killed. Right." Both Leo and Jason wielded dangerous elements, but they were mostly immune to the effects. So they could fight with fire and lightning and not have to worry. But Tadashi didn't have that luxury. "So, what do you think? Fireproof clothes like you made for me?"

Calypso nodded. "Gloves too, since he seemed to mostly shoot fire from his hands. I know he wants to go back to San Fransokyo as soon as possible, so it would be a good idea for him to have some kind of protection. I sketched out a few designs while the two of you were practicing." She held up the black notebook that she'd been scribbling in earlier.

"I'll have a talk with him and Nyssa at lunch, she's our best armor smith." Leo nodded, satisfied that his brother would be okay. "Can I see what you drew?"

"Sure. Come here." Leo walked to the bench Calypso was sitting on and plopped down beside her. He didn't get too close, because all that training had made him sweat a lot and he couldn't have smelled very good.

Calypso handed him the notebook and tucked her pencil behind her ear. "I heard him complaining about the helmets during Capture the Flag last night. So I left that alone, but there's the rest of it."

Leo nodded, scanning the notebook. It turned out that Calypso had filled three whole pages with drawings and notes. "You're a pretty awesome artist, Sunshine."

"Let's add that to the list of things I can do and you can't." She smiled. As the two of them had gotten to know each other over the past two weeks they'd started a competition of sorts when it came to making things. They were both crafty, but their strengths were so vastly different sometimes it was almost comical. Leo was great at improvising and using what was around him, but Calypso preferred to make things from scratch.

"Well, I'll bet you couldn't make a working helicopter while you were plummeting to your death." Leo retorted.

"I don't know if I'd call that working. You crash landed into my dining table and broke _everything!_ "

"What sane person puts a table on the beach?"

"The one who isn't expecting a runty demigod to come falling out of the sky!"

"Runty? I'm taller than you!"

"If anything, we're the same height!"

Oh, and they bickered a lot. But the debates were all good natured. Though it could be a bit annoying at times, Leo liked that he'd found someone who would tease him back. A couple more minutes of debating passed and they were both laughing like crazy.

"We should…we should get going." Leo said, trying to stop.

Calypso took a deep breath and nodded. "Yes, the others will be wondering where we are."

When the two of them stood up to leave, Calypso took Leo's hand. He grinned, and they walked off into the forest.

Sure, a demigod's life was never perfect. But right now Leo wouldn't change a thing.

 **Yay we met Grover! That talk almost featured Nico instead, but I miss the satyr. He needed some screen time. But if you grow annoyed with the lack of action, worry not! Next week's chapter is sure to throw you all into a tizzy. I'm pretty sure _nobody_ is expecting what's up next. A couple of hints: It further screws up the BH6 movie canon and features one of the gang being a badass monster slayer. Please review!**


	10. In Which Honey Saves Everyone's Butts

**So why am I updating early? I'M GOING TO SUPERCON! Celebration woo! Also, I'm moving up to Orlando for college the day after tomorrow, so I'll be fairly busy. But if anyone else is gonna be in Miami on Thursday, look for fem Natsu and that's me! But personal business aside, I tried really hard to get Honey's character right in this chapter. You can probably tell she's the demigod by the title. Also, the two tiny demons that appear in this chapter are called Amanojaku, Japanese spirits. Brcause Hiro and Tadashi are half Japanese, I thought it fit. Anyway, I hope you like it!**

"Okay Baymax, time to use those upgrades!" Hiro whispered to the now armored robot. But before either of them could move, another voice called out.

"Hiro?" Wait a second…was that _Honey Lemon?_ Hiro spun around in alarm, and sure enough there she was, along with the rest of Tadashi's old friends.

"No, no, no! What are you guys _doing_ here?" Hiro hissed. _They'll ruin everything! Yokai has no idea I'm here, but I won't have that advantage for long!_

"Baymax contacted us. That's why we're here." Honey Lemon explained. "What are you doing out here all alone?"

"Umm, why is Baymax wearing carbon fiber underpants?" GoGo asked suspiciously. She had approached the robot and was now staring at the armor Hiro had hastily made.

"Well, you see…" _Crap, what do I tell them? If they find out what I'm doing they'll try to stop me!_ "There's this guy…he stole my microbots and I don't know who he is. He wears a Kabuki mask, and for now I've named him Yokai."

"Please don't tell me you were out here looking for him." Wasabi groaned, "You're supposed to stay _away_ from the creepy masked villain."

Before Hiro could think of an excuse, he heard something moving behind him…was some kind of small animal walking on one of the shipping containers?

"Oh, now what do we have here?" A hoarse, old-sounding woman's voice echoed from somewhere up above.

"It looks like that silly little boy from the other day. What shall we do about this, Baku?" Another, similar sounding voice answered back.

"What the—who's there?" Wasabi asked nervously.

"Look at that, Onryo! He's brought friends." The first voice, Baku, cackled.

"Up there! Look!" Fred pointed, a look of shock on his face.

There, on top of one of the many giant shipping containers, were two small, twisted figures. With the poor lighting Hiro couldn't be sure…but did they have horns? _Oni?_ Hiro wondered, taking a step back. Were they in league with Yokai?

"Oh, dear. Looking for a bit of payback, young one?" Onryo asked, her voice a strange mixture of fake sympathy and delight.

"He did steal your hard work. Set the fire too. And after all, it's _his_ fault your brother is gone." Baku added. If Hiro could see her face, he'd bet she was smiling.

"Don't you _dare_ talk about Tadashi! Who the hell are you, anyway?" Hiro demanded. How could they speak of his brother's death so happily? How did they even _know_ about it, anyway?

"We are your anger." Baku told him.

"Your hatred." Onryo added.

"Your darkest desires." Baku finished. "Scared, little boy?"

"Stop messing with me! Where is Yokai?" Hiro demanded. _I don't have time for this!_

"The boss isn't here tonight…but we did bring a friend along!" Onryo cackled.

"Echidna!" They called together. At their summons a third, larger figure pulled themselves onto the shipping container. This one didn't look normal either. For some reason, the way it moved reminded Hiro of a snake.

"My sensors do not recognize your life forces." Baymax said suddenly.

"Wait…what does that mean?" Honey Lemon was backing up now too, alarm beginning to show on her face.

"These three are not human." Baymax answered.

The third figure, Echidna, cackled. "Too right! I know the boss said not to kill anyone…but he can go to Hades for all I care! Tonight, my children shall feast on demigod flesh!"

 _Demigod? What does she mean, demigod?_ A hand landed on Hiro's shoulder—GoGo.

"We need to get out of here. _Now._ " She said seriously. "Wasabi, give me the keys."

"But—"

"Don't argue! I'm not going to deal with your sissy driving right now!" She glared at the larger boy, and without further comment he threw her the keys to his van.

"You're not getting away that easily!" Echidna screamed.

"Come on, come on!" Honey Lemon grabbed Hiro's wrist and started dragging him towards the van. "They're coming!"

"But—"

"These figures aim to harm you. It is in your best interest to leave." Even Baymax was waddling towards the van! _Damn it, I guess I'll get him another time._ Though it pissed Hiro off that he hadn't even seen Yokai, he was kind of glad to be leaving these freaks behind. He and Tadashi's friends all piled in the car. Somehow, Hiro ended up in the back seat with Fred.

"Wait, no! Baymax won't fit!" Hiro cried. He couldn't just leave the robot behind!

"Make him ride on the roof, then! There's no time!" GoGo jammed the keys into the ignition and the car sputtered to life.

"It is the best course of action." Baymax agreed, and surprisingly quickly he clambered onto the car's roof

Something hit the back of the van hard, and GoGo stomped on the gas pedal. They shot forward, tires skidding on the damp ground. "Are they following us?" GoGo asked, eyes on the road.

Fred had his face pressed against the back window. "I don't know about the little ones, but that Echidna person is after us! And she…I don't know what that is, but it looks like a _monster_ is with her! Awesome! Dangerous, sure, but this is just like a comic!"

"Don't be crazy, Fred! Monsters aren't real!" Wasabi yelled at him. "This is already freaky enough without you throwing in your comic book fantasies!"

The car lurched as they reached the main city streets and started climbing a hill. Hiro looked back like Fred was doing and his eyes nearly popped out of his head. Echidna was chasing them faster than what should be possible. With the help of the streetlamps they passed ever so often, he realized that she didn't have legs—her bottom half was a giant snake tail, like some twisted mermaid. There were also sickly green scales all over her arms, but her inhuman appearance wasn't the worst part.

No, the worst part was the monster running beside her. It had the bloody head of a lion, the body of a beefed up goat, and though it was difficult to tell, its long tail looked suspiciously like a snake.

"He's telling the truth! Echidna is a monster, and she's got another one on her side! I don't even know what that thing _is!_ Hiro exclaimed. What the hell was happening? He thought Yokai was just some creep who stole his microbots, not the commander of demons like these!

"What are you talking about? It's just two people on motorcycles!" Wasabi had turned around as well, and his face was a mixture of disbelief and fear.

"How are you not seeing this?" Hiro demanded.

"How are you two seeing monsters?" Wasabi shot back.

"Will you stop arguing?" Honey Lemon yelled. "It doesn't matter what they are, what matters is that we—" The tall girl's voice died as she too turned around. Her eyes went wide and she let out a shocked hiss. " _Diablos…_ No, no, no!"

"You see them too?" Hiro asked hopefully. So he and Fred weren't crazy!

Honey Lemon whipped back around frantically. "Drive, GoGo, drive! We have to get away from them!"

"I'm working on it!" The black haired girl yelled.

Nervously, Hiro looked back through the window. _Oh, crap._ The monster was gaining on them! The thing let out a wild roar and fire burst from its maw, sending the car spinning. They hit a buillding and Hiro's head crashed into the back window. Everything went fuzzy…

The last thing he heard was Honey Lemon yelling. But it wasn't the scream of a scared girl…no.

That was a warrior's battle cry.

* * *

 _No…no! That's a chimera!_ _I haven't seen any monsters since I got here, where did it come from?_ Honey Lemon thought desperately. _And why is Echidna after me? I'm just a minor demigod! Wait! She said she was working for someone! But who?_ There wasn't time to worry about it now. They had to get out of here, Honey couldn't hope to protect everyone on her own. "Drive, GoGo, drive! We have to get away from them!"

"I'm working on it!" The other girl yelled back. Just as she spoke, the van took a sharp turn and Honey was thrown into Wasabi. But before they could even straighten themselves out, a huge and powerful blast of fire sent the van spinning into a very solid building. Which hurt. A lot.

For a minute, Honey was too stunned to move. But she quickly shook her head and inspected her surroundings—it looked like the rear of the van had connected with the building. Hiro had a nasty head wound, but Fred looked like he was coming around. GoGo was stirring in the driver's seat and Wasabi was out cold. All the windows had shattered, and there was a gaping hole where the passenger door had been a minute ago. Baymax had been thrown to the ground a little ways away. She heard a roar from outside—the chimera and its mother were closing in. _There's no way for us to outrun them…Damn it! I'll have to fight!_

Honey reached down and snatched her purse from the floor, then climbed over the smoking remains of the passenger seat and hopped to the ground. "Stay here. Please." Honey said nervously, her eyes on the approaching monsters.

"Wait, Honey Lemon, what ae you doing?" GoGo asked, a rare note of panic in her voice.

"Those things will kill you!" Fred said seriously. "You can't take them on your own!"

"Just stay in the van, make sure the others are okay! I'll take care of this, I've done it before! Baymax, protect them!" Honey ordered. The monsters were almost there—another second and she'd have to worry about dodging snake bites and fire. _I can't let them reach the van!_ Honey reached into the front pocket of her purse and pulled out what looked like a regular tube of lipstick. She threw her bag to the ground and yelled a challenge. "Back off now or I'll send you to Tartarus!"

"Going to beat us all on your own, are you?" Echidna laughed. She raised one hand, and she and the chimera paused about ten feet away. "The bravery is admirable, but foolish. You will fall."

 _Don't panic, don't panic._ Honey was trying not to let her nerves show. _You might be alone right now, but you've faced entire hordes of monsters. Just focus. It might be dark now, but you can use the streetlamps to help._ Slowly, trying to keep her hand steady, she raised her tube of lipstick. _Without your power, you're toast! There's no other way!_

"Is that supposed to be threatening, demigod?" Echidna cackled. Honey just ginned wildly (It was laugh or cry at this point) and opened the cosmetic—which sprang into a full sized, oddly reflective bronze sword.

"Let's party, you fashion disaster!" Honey Lemon challenged, taking a battle stance. _I can do this, I have to!_

"Get rid of her, chimera!" Echidna ordered, and the monster sprang at Honey. She dodged to the side as quick as she could. _From what I've heard, Echidna will stay out of battle until her child is slain. I'm counting on that, I can't fend them both off at the same time._

The chimera opened its mouth and shot a column of flame at her, which she barely managed to avoid. There might have been burning hair involved, but there wasn't time to find out. Every time Honey got close enough to strike the monster, its rattlesnake tail would whip around and try to bite her—and if it managed that, Honey was done for. But as they fought, her panic started fading away—there just wasn't time for it. _I'll have to stun it before I can hope to bring it down._ Honey decided. For the particular move she had in mind, she needed a few minutes to prepare. And that was exactly what she didn't have. _If I can at least get a little distance between me and the monster, I might be able to pull it off._

"You smell worse than a sulfur pit! Come and get me!" Honey taunted as she gradually distanced herself from the van. The chimera leaped at her, but she just ran a few more steps down the street. The monster and its mother only had eyes for her, a demigod was obviously more entertaining than a group of mortals. She spotted Fred and GoGo watching her with dumbfounded looks on their faces, but prayed to the gods that they wouldn't make a sound.

When there was enough space between Honey and the monsters—or at least enough to give her a second of breathing room—she turned around to face them. Honey brought her sword up in front of her face and uttered a silent prayer. _All the light…come to me! Gather around my sword!_ And, oddly enough to those who hadn't seen the skill before, the light of the streetlamps and even the faint glow of the moon and stars began to bend towards Honey's reflective blade. It started to shine with a multicolored light, at which Echidna laughed.

"A child of _Iris_? Ha! You're no match for my son!"

"Don't you _ever_ look down on the children of the minor gods!" Honey had had enough of that prejudice when she was at Camp. She raised her blade, which was now shining with all the colors of the rainbow. "I'll turn you to dust!"

"Chimera, kill her already!" Echidna roared. The monster leaped at her. To this, Honey let out a battle cry of her own. She charged towards the chimera and forced her gathered light out in one giant flash. The chimera howled in indignation, but not before it swept a giant clawed paw at Honey's shoulder.

She fell to the ground, trying not to scream in pain. The left shoulder of her yellow sweater was now torn to shreds and soaked in blood. _Damn it…well, at least the claws aren't poison._ And she could still wield her blade, but it had flown out of her grip when the chimera struck her. Honey spotted it lying a few feet away and scrambled to get it. She got to her feet unsteadily and refocused on her enemy. The chimera was staggering around, dazed and probably half blind from the extreme light show it had just been exposed to. _Now or never!_ Honey let out another yell and ran at the chimera.

It didn't have a chance. Honey's sword slashed right through its ugly head and the monster burst into gold dust. Breathing heavily due to her wound and her magic use, she turned to Echidna and gave the snake woman a grim smile. "My name is Aiko Miyazaki, daughter of Iris and veteran of the Titan War. Do you still want to fight me?" _Gods, I really hope I sounded braver than I feel right now. With this wound I don't think I could beat her._

Echidna sneered at her, but began to back off. "You fight well, demigod. But be warned…if you or any of your friends keep poking your noses where they don't belong you won't get off so easy." _She doesn't like to do her own fighting._ Honey sighed in relief, clutching her bleeding shoulder as Echidna slithered off into the night.

When she was sure the monster had gone, Honey tapped the tip of her sword to the ground twice and it shifted back into a tube of lipstick. Then she hesitantly walked back to Wasabi's ruined car. When she saw the looks on everyone's faces—even Hiro and Wasabi had regained consciousness—she laughed sheepishly. "I guess I have some explaining to do, huh?"

"You have a severe laceration on your left shoulder. I suggest cleaning and bandaging the wound immediately." Baymax seemed to be the only one who could talk, the others were all stunned into silence. For some reason, the robot had removed his armor—Honey Lemon supposed he couldn't treat patients effectively with it on. "I can take care of it, if you would like."

Honey Lemon shook her head. "Thanks, but not here. We need to get somewhere safe, there might be other monsters around. I'll explain everything when we're out of danger. We don't need the police finding us."

"I know a place. Come on." Fred told them, climbing from the wreck. The others followed suit.

Honey refused to answer their questions as Fred led them towards what seemed to be the wealthier part of town. _I don't want anyone overhearing us, and telling them the whole truth will take some time. Damn it, why did they have to find out like this?_ Honey had gone to college in San Fransokyo to _avoid_ monster attacks. And it had worked—for nearly two years she hadn't seen a single monster. Her friends had never had any reason to suspect she wasn't just a normal girl. So what had changed? Who was Echidna working for, and what kinds of creatures were Baku and Onryo? Their names weren't any kind of Greek she knew, and even in the unclear light they hadn't seemed like any monster she had faced before.

Abruptly, Fred stopped walking and turned into the yard of an extremely huge and ornate looking house, then sauntered up to the door like he owned the place.

"Where are we—Fred, what are you _doing?_ " Hiro asked incredulously.

"Huh? Oh, welcome to mi casa. That's French for front door." Fred said proudly. Honey Lemon just sighed, not bothering to correct the _multiple_ errors in what the boy had just told them.

"Listen, nitwit." GoGo seethed, "Honey almost got killed trying to protect us, and I don't even know for sure what from. I'm not in the mood for any—"

She cut herself off when the door opened, revealing a very sharply dressed man who Honey suspected was a butler. "Welcome home, Master Frederick."

"Heathcliff, my man! Good to see you. Come on in guys, we'll be safe in here." Fred told them cheerfully.

Apparently with all the other nonsense that had happened that night the others were willing to accept that Fred the comic nerd might actually be rich, and just filed in after him. When Honey Lemon passed Heathcliff his eyes widened at her injured shoulder, but he remained silent.

"I thought you lived under a bridge." GoGo said sarcastically.

"I only fell asleep there once. This is technically my parents' house, but they're on vacation at the family island. You know, we should totally go some time. Frolic." Fred told them as they reached the end of the hall. He clapped his hands and a rather odd-looking door slid open to reveal one of the most strangely decorated rooms Honey Lemon had ever seen.

There were costumes and comics, posters and action figures covering almost every available space. And on one wall there was a seriously messed up looking painting of Fred riding a giant white tiger.

Baymax turned to Honey Lemon. "Your wound still needs my attention. Do I have your permission to treat it now?"

"Huh? Oh, sure." Honey nodded.

"Join me on the couch here." Fred flopped onto a large, curved white sofa. "And can you tell us what that was? Suddenly you turned into this amazing warrior with a magic sword! How did that happen?"

"I'd like to know too…" Wasabi said, "And why we don't seem to be seeing the same things. I thought she had a piece of wreckage from my car, not a sword."

Honey sighed. "It's a long story. I don't know what those monsters were doing there, but I can tell you what they were…and what I am."

Honey sat down on a chair while the other four grouped together on Fred's couch. She wanted to be able to look at all of them while she spoke. And so, after she stripped down to only her tank top and bra to allow Baymax to treat her wound (three nasty claw marks that would totally leave scars) Honey Lemon began to explain things to them.

She'd lived with her father in San Fransokyo as child, but eventually they'd had to move away. It only took a few months for the monsters to start coming after she started living in New York City. Honey had been fifteen by the time a satyr found her and brought her to Camp. It had been right after the whole fiasco with Atlas and Artemis. Honey was left unclaimed for more than half a year, until the Battle of the Labyrinth. But even after she'd been claimed by Iris she'd had to stay in the Hermes cabin. Because there was nowhere else for her to go. It had been hard not to feel a little bitter at that, and it was even harder watching both unclaimed demigods and minor ones like her disappear to join Kronos's army. She'd had friends at least, Annabeth was always good to talk to and Silena loved Honey's fashion sense. Before long though, she was one of the only minor demigods left at Camp. Naturally people were a bit suspicious of her. Silena Beauregard had been one of the few people who never even looked at her funny, but then she'd…Well, that was later in the story. The weeks leading up to the Battle of Manhattan had been the worst.

It was just before they went to the city that Honey had met her mother for the first time. She'd just got back from a mission that involved her and a mix of other campers taking out a group of hellhounds that had started to prowl the woods outside Camp. There had been way more of them than everyone thought, and the group was very nearly overwhelmed. She had known that there were only tougher battles to come and was feeling pretty useless compared to everyone else, with their amazing powers. She'd been sitting at the beach alone, watching the sun sparkle on the water when she realized she hadn't been alone.

A fairly odd-looking woman was sitting next to her, who had a rainbow dress, white hair, and golden wings. That's what tipped Honey off, her mother was famous for her wings. The goddess had smiled at her and they talked for a few minutes, but with everything going on Iris couldn't stay long. "I'm proud of you, Aiko." She had said. "You may not be fighting on the front lines, but you're loyal and kind to your friends. Which is why I think you deserve this." Iris had then given Honey a tube of lipstick and explained how it turned into a sword. "Use it to defend those you hold dear. War is never easy, but I hope this helps you make it through. It should help to amplify your power over light." Then Iris had hugged her daughter, stoop up, and flew off over the ocean leaving a rainbow in her wake.

Honey Lemon had found that her new sword sparkled in many different colors when the sunlight hit it, which made using her limited power much more convenient. It had been useful in keeping the monsters off guard, since the bright flashes she created with it didn't bother her at all. Still, it hadn't been enough to protect Silena, one of Honey's closest friends. She'd seriously considered running away when the daughter of Aphrodite had died, but had been encouraged by Clarisse's show of bravery. Soon after that, Hades and Nico had arrived on the battlefield and things got really chaotic. Zombies and monsters _and_ mortals all running around? She was glad that Percy had ended things quickly.

After things calmed down Honey decided that she'd like to leave camp and go to college. The war had terrified her, she wanted to be as far away from her memories of it as possible. Her old hometown of San Fransokyo had seemed like the perfect option, what with the city's monster-free reputation and SFIT's superb chemical engineering program. She'd been accepted for spring semester, and the rest was history. She'd met her new friends, gotten a nickname she was insanely fond of, and was most importantly safe from monster attacks. She'd heard all sorts of things from Annabeth and her half-brother Butch about the Giant War, but they'd assured her it was better to stay away and stay safe. She'd hated it, but she knew they were right. She had a new life now, free from fights and gods and monsters…

A life that had just been turned upside down by Echidna and the chimera.

It took a while to convince Wasabi and GoGo of everything, because they had only seen Honey fighting a couple thugs. She'd had to pull out her sword and show them a couple light tricks before they stopped denying everything. _They're mortal through and through._ Fred and Hiro, on the other hand, had seen Echidna and the Chimera for what they truly were. _I don't know about Fred, he's probably just a clear sighted mortal. But Hiro…he's certainly smart enough to be a child of Athena._ That didn't exactly fit, though. Athena's kids were one of the few demigod groups that had a strong family resemblance, and Hiro had neither gray eyes nor blond hair.

Honey sighed when she finished. "A half-blood's life is never easy. The monsters, the fighting, the war…I hated it. I never wanted to be a warrior. Fighting just isn't me. Seeing my friends risk their lives time and time again, some of them _dying…_ it terrified me. I came to San Fransokyo so I could finally get away from all that. I thought it was over." Honey buried her head in her hands. "But now there're monsters here and I don't know what to do."

A few seconds later, Honey felt a hand on her uninjured shoulder. She looked up to find GoGo crouched by her chair, an unusually sympathetic expression on the black haired girl's typically stoic face. "We're going to stop them. Don't think this is all on you. The five of us are going to figure out what the hell is going on and put a stop to it."

"Let's look at the facts again." Wasabi suggested. "We can go over what we know for sure and then decide where to go from there."

"Right…you're right." Honey nodded, then gave her friends a small smile. "Okay, let's do it."

"Okay, let's start at the beginning." Hiro said. "The Greek gods are real, alive, and living above the Empire State Building."

"Yep."

"You're a daughter of Iris, Greek goddess of the rainbow."

"Yes. She's a messenger too."

"You have a magic sword that can transform into a tube of lipstick when you want, and you can control light."

"To an extent, yeah."

"And there's not just one, but _two_ camps for people like you?"

"Camp Jupiter and Camp Half-Blood. Roman and Greek."

"Those monsters chasing us tonight were Echidna, mother of all monsters, and the chimera, right out of the stories?"

"That's right."

"And you really don't know why they wanted to kill us?"

"That about sums it up." Honey shrugged. "I mean, monsters usually go after half-bloods, but I'm not powerful enough to attract the attention of someone like Echidna. She and those others did say they were working for someone, though…it might be that Yokai person you were talking about earlier."

"Whoever it is, we have to catch him." GoGo decided. "I don't know about all these gods and monsters, but if there's someone in this city who can control things like that, a lot of people could be hurt."

"I'll call up some of my old friends from Camp Half-Blood when I get home and see what they think." Honey told her. "They might have some good advice."

"But how do we find him?" Hiro asked, "All I know is that he stole my microbots and wears a kabuki mask."

"His blood type is AB. His—"

"Baymax, you _scanned_ him? Back in the warehouse?" Hiro asked the robot incredulously.

"I am programmed to assess everyone's healthcare needs."

Hiro's eyes lit up. "That's it! We can use Baymax's scanner to find him."

"How?" GoGo raised an eyebrow. "You'd have to scan everyone in San Fransokyo and that would take forever."

"I'll upgrade it." Hiro was grinning now. "Actually, if we're going to catch him, you all need some upgrades."

Honey smiled at the boy's determination. It reminded her of Tadashi when he was testing Baymax. " _One more test, I'll get it this time…"_ "I'll do my best to call in some help. But in the meantime, if Yokai really does command monsters, I'll do my best to teach you all how to fight."

"Oh. My. Gosh." Fred gasped, a look if incredible joy on his face. "Can you feel it, guys? Our origin story begins. We're gonna be superheroes!"

If only it was that simple. Fighting monsters led to death all too often, as Honey Lemon had seen back during the war with Kronos. _Tadashi is already gone for good. But I won't lose any of them to the monsters if I can help it. Not like Silena…_ Honey shook her head, this was no time to be reminiscing about her old friend. She had new friends to protect, and Hades have mercy on the souls of anyone who tried to hurt them.

 _I don't like fighting…but if it's for them, I'd face the entire world._

 **So yeah, that was a twist! I figured Iris because Honey likes bright colors so much. I revised this chapter like three times before I posted. As for Honey Lemon's real name, Aiko Miyazaki was what she was called in the comics. Please let me know what you thought!**


	11. Strategy Meeting

**Last week was early, this week is late. Guess I'm just not good at keeping a schedule. Oh well, I guess they equal out. I really don't like this chapter tbh...it was such a pain to write and there's so much dialogue...**

"Tadashi? Tadashi, wake up!" Someone shook Tadashi's shoulder and he jumped so hard he nearly fell off the stool he was sitting on. He groaned and rubbed his eyes, looking up to find a certain 'fiery' demigod stating at him.

"What are you doing sleeping in the forge?" Leo asked, eyebrows raised.

"Sorry. I, uh, didn't sleep too well last night." Tadashi ruffled his hair in embarrassment. It was true, he had hardly slept a wink since his talk with Grover the satyr, and it had been two nights since then.

Grover had indeed talked to Percy like he said he would; Tadashi had been told that the son of Poseidon and his girlfriend Annabeth would be coming back to camp as soon as possible. Leo and the rest of the Hephaestus cabin (along with Leo's other friends, who had been informed almost immediately after) had reacted to the news of potential impending disaster less than happily. They had decided to work even harder on training Tadashi while the matter was investigated, and Jason had been enlisted to teach him how to use his new spear. When he had been practicing his fire again Leo had also told Tadashi that he and Calypso would help him design some special armor to shield against the dangerous effects of his power. The intense training coupled with his lack of sleep made for a very tired Tadashi.

His armor was the reason he was in the forge, sleeping or not. Tadashi was working to create the helmet for it. He'd dug an old motorcycle helmet out of a pile of random equipment that had included a broom, a toy water gun, and various other things. Why they had a closet full of such random stuff in the back of the forge, Tadashi wound never know. He was just glad he'd found something that didn't look as crazy as the traditional Greek war helmets. Because frankly, horsehair plumes were ridiculous and impractical in close combat.

The helmet he had found was bronze in color, (apparently, it was actually made of a special metal called Celestial Bronze) with a darkly tinted visor, so that if Tadashi was wearing it you couldn't see his face at all. He'd been told that another demigod had made the thing a while ago and abandoned the project for some reason or another. Being made of Celestial Bronze, it was a bit heavier than the helmet Tadashi used to wear when riding his moped, but he was glad for the extra protection. He'd been trying to figure out how to make the thing fireproof when he had nodded off.

Tadashi had dreamed, but it hadn't been clear like last time. He only caught flashes of color and sound, but he'd recognized Hiro's and his friends' voices. He couldn't tell if they were really in trouble or not, but it was enough to set him on edge.

"What's up, Leo?" He asked.

"There's going to be a meeting in the Big House. Usually all the head councilors come, but it'll only be a few of us since we're not too sure what's going on."

"Is this about the dream I had?"

Leo nodded, then gave Tadashi a half smile. "Don't worry, we'll figure it out. Your little bro and everyone else will be fine."

Tadashi nodded and stood up, stretching. He'd been working all morning. Or at least he had been, until he fell asleep. "So are we going now?"

"Yep. Everyone else is already on their way, I just came back here to get you." Leo told him.

"Lead the way, then." Tadashi offered. He left his helmet where it was, since the Hermes kids rarely ventured into the forge. And since an incident a while ago that involved Shane nearly losing a hand, the Hephaestus kids left each other's' projects alone.

The two brothers—Tadashi still felt weird calling Leo his brother, regardless of how friendly he was—walked down the hill and crossed the strawberry fields together.

"What are you thinking about?" Tadashi asked suddenly. Leo was being quieter than normal.

"What? Oh, well…I've kind of been having weird dreams too." The Latino boy shrugged. "I was just wondering if they had any connection to yours because I brought you here."

"Do you think so?" _If I'm not the only one seeing stuff go down in San Fransokyo then it might be even worse than I thought._ Tadashi had to hold back a grimace.

"I don't know. Demigods have dreams all the time, so I was going to see what the others thought. Calypso thinks they might, though."

Tadashi nodded. _Let's not blow things out of proportion before we figure out what's what._ "How does she like camp?" It still sort of blew Tadashi's mind that a millennia-old deity was hanging around. She didn't seem like she was thousands of years old.

Leo laughed. "She loves it here. Says things are way more entertaining than Ogygia."

"You're late!" The very woman they were speaking about scolded. She was waiting on the porch of the Big House, but she didn't seem too upset. "Everyone else is already in the basement."

Leo rolled his eyes. "I told you I was going to get him, didn't I?"

Calypso just sighed good-naturedly and gestured for them to follow her. The half-brothers entered the Big House after her and followed her down into the basement. But even from the top of the staircase Tadashi knew something interesting must have been going on.

The event in question turned out to be an intense game of ping pong between Jason and Nico. Piper, Will, Frank, Hazel, and Grover were watching them play. Whatever happened just before Tadashi got there must have been hilarious, because Piper and Will were laughing their butts off. Nico's face was red with embarrassment.

"Aw, are you trying to leave me out of the fun?" Leo teased, alerting the others to their presence.

Nico shook his head quickly. "Trust me, this 'fun' is going to end up withal of Jason's clothes mysteriously missing. Or something like that, I haven't decided yet."

The son of Jupiter just grinned. "Come on, Neeks. That was funny!"

"What the heck are you talking about?" Tadashi was so lost.

"Well, I was just telling Nico here—"

"Nothing! Nothing happened." Nico cut Jason off frantically. The younger boy took a deep breath to compose himself, then looked at Tadashi. "Anyway, we should be getting down to business. What exactly did you see in that dream?"

And so it was that a minute later when everyone had grabbed a chair and gathered around the ping pong table Tadashi told them all what he'd heard. When he finished he added, "I haven't seen anything as clear since then, but I have the feeling something really nasty is about to go down."

Frank sighed. "So we've got one of your old teachers who is supposed to be dead, Echidna, two unknown monsters, possibly Nemesis, and Nyx all working against us. Fabulous."

"Why would Nyx get involved in a revenge plot, though? The others make sense, but she's been hanging out in Tartarus for the past few decades." Will asked curiously. "Does she have some kind of a grudge against this Krei person?"

"My guess is Percy and Annabeth." Nico said quietly. "Remember, they met her when they fell. And they tricked her so they could escape."

Tadashi wasn't too sure what Nico meant about Percy and Annabeth falling, but apparently it was a dark subject for the assembled demigods. "Well, the way they were talking made it sound like Nyx was going to be part of the endgame. So we don't have to worry about her just yet."

"Right. Let's deal with the immediate threat." Jason agreed. "We need to figure out why Callaghan hates Krei, how he got the support of Echidna and Nyx, what they'll do to accomplish this plan, and what the heck those other demons were."

 _Callaghan was such a nice guy._ Tadashi thought. _It's hard to picture him leading immortals into something like this._ Tadashi knew there was bad blood between Krei and Callaghan, that much had been obvious back at the showcase. Why, though? What could drive Tadashi's teacher to change so much?

"I think he's a demigod, like us. Echidna said something about his mother, so that might be how he got into contact with his mythological forces." Tadashi suggested.

"She'd probably be a minor goddess, then." Will decided. "I know he's older, but he's well known enough that if he'd ever been to Camp Half-Blood some of us probably would have heard about him."

"The same with Camp Jupiter." Frank put in. "I've seen the records of demigods and legacies that have left for the mortal world, and there's no Callaghan anywhere on there."

"Which goddess, then?" Piper asked. "I've heard about this guy once or twice, and the first thing I think of is that he might be a child of Athena. But if he's never been to one of the half-blood camps that would be impossible. The monsters would have found him."

There was a quiet laugh from the corner of the room. Tadashi turned and found that it was Nico, looking at them with one eyebrow raised. "Come on, you don't see it?"

"See what?" Will asked.

Nico rolled his eyes. "Callaghan has a grudge against this Krei person for whatever reason. He's so mad that he seems like a different person. He faked his death, gathered the support of multiple monsters, all for what is probably one huge _revenge plot_."

The emphasis on the last two words didn't really make sense to Tadashi, but realization seemed to dawn in everyone else's eyes.

Leo had a curiously dark look. "Nemesis…of course."

"What's wrong?" Tadashi asked curiously.

"We met her once, Leo and me." Hazel told him. "It wasn't very pleasant."

"Anyway," Calypso interrupted—Tadashi guessed she didn't want to ruin her boyfriend's day. "I think this helps explain what Nyx is doing. She's the mother of Nemesis. Nemesis is probably enjoying herself, trying to make this revenge bigger and better. It makes sense that she'd call in some support."

"Fantastic." Piper groaned. "Another looming disaster because some deity wanted to be entertained."

"And once again, we'll be the ones to stop them before their heads get too big." Jason nodded. "But now that we've got that sorted out, why would Callaghan want to take revenge in the first place?"

Tadashi shrugged. "He was a good guy, as far as I knew. If he's recruiting monsters and goddesses this has to be serious. Whatever Krei did had to have been insanely bad to make Callaghan act this way."

"Did he have any family?" Will asked, "Something could have happened to them."

"I'm pretty sure he was single. He might have had a daughter, but I don't know for sure. Callaghan never really talked about his personal life."

Jason nodded, a pensive look on his face. "Right, so we've got Nemesis, Nyx, Echidna, and whatever nasty monsters she can rally. Not to mention those two other things. We don't know why Callaghan is doing this, only that it's serious enough to dramatically change him. They're after some businessman named Krei. And we're pretty sure Callaghan is a son of Nemesis. That about it?"

Tadashi nodded. "So where do we go from here?"

"Intelligence gathering, maybe?" Frank suggested. "We can't really do much until we know more. I can contact Reyna and see if she can send a couple children of Mercury to look for information."

"Oh! I can help too!" Whatever idea Leo had, it was exciting enough to make his nose catch on fire. "Me and my siblings can try hacking into security cameras around the city. As long as they're connected to the internet we're golden." Tadashi nodded eagerly at this, using the security cameras in the Lucky Cat Café to spy on Hiro would make it easier to keep him out of trouble. _Or at least I might have some warning when he charges off to do something stupid._

"Perfect. After we know a little more, we can head to the city and stop Callaghan ourselves before he causes too much trouble." Jason smiled grimly. "It's been a while since we went all out."

Nico scoffed. "Yeah, because that last battle was _so_ much fun."

Leo grinned evilly. "One could say it was… _explosive_."

Piper whacked him on the back of the head. "Why don't we get to it before your bad jokes make me kill you for real?"

"Jeez, beauty queen, you don't have to be so harsh." Leo complained. _It's his own fault for making jokes about his 'death'._ Tadashi rolled his eyes.

"Percy and Annabeth should be coming back this weekend, too." Grover put in. "They said they'd take off school to help if this turned out to be really bad." Everyone seemed to be happy at this news—Tadashi was informed enough to know that those two had seen more than just about anyone. _Percy seemed a little weird, but if the stories are true I'm glad he and Annabeth are on my side._

"All seven of us on an adventure again. This'll be awesome." Jason grinned, and then stood up. "Let's get to it, then!"

The entire group began getting up then, and Leo practically ran out of the room. He must have been really excited about his spying mission. Tadashi made to follow him and help, but a hand landed on his shoulder. He turned around to see Jason, an expression of friendly challenge on the younger boy's face. "If there's a battle coming, you need to work on your fighting skills. Feel like going up to the arena?"

"Oh, sure." Tadashi would just have to help Leo later. But then again, his half-brother was so smart that Tadashi suspected he'd have no trouble. "Yeah, that's a great idea."

But just as they started up the basement stairs, Tadashi remembered something. "Can you go ahead? I'll catch up in a second."

Jason shrugged. "Sure, man. Just be ready—Piper's going to be helping and she's got some wicked sword moves."

Tadashi nodded and then turned back to face the one person that was behind them—Grover.

"Hey, Grover!" Tadashi called. The satyr looked up and cocked his head to the side in question. "I, um, just wanted to say thanks for the help. It was just a newbie's nightmare and you all took it seriously. You didn't have to go so far for me.

Grover made a noise that sounded like something in between a laugh and a bleat. "Don't worry about it. When you've found some of the most powerful half-bloods of the century and fought in two wars paranoia usually pays off."

"You're still doing a lot to make sure everyone in my hometown stays safe. I appreciate it, man." Gods knew Hiro got himself into enough trouble during everyday life. Add goddesses and monsters to the mix, along with an MIA older brother, and you had the recipe for disaster. _If I know him at all he'll somehow end up right in the middle of whatever trouble is going on._

* * *

Annabeth Chase had been having a good day. She'd gone to class, aced her statistics test, and was currently in her dorm room getting ready for a date with Percy, who was supposed to pick her up from her boarding school in half an hour. But knowing him it would probably be at least twice that. Everything was going well, even with the odd news Grover had given her and Percy yesterday. Annabeth was currently enjoying a book and expecting nothing especially interesting to occur.

So, when her friend Aiko appeared in an Iris-message she was just a bit surprised. "Hey, it's been a while!" Annabeth smiled. "What's up? You almost never call."

Aiko had a worried expression, unlike her usual hyperactive and cheerful manner. "A couple monsters attacked me and my friends last night."

That sure got Annabeth's attention. "In the middle of San Fransokyo? What kind?"

"It was Echidna and the chimera. There were these other weird creatures with them at first, but I don't know what kind and they didn't chase us." Aiko sighed. "They said they were working for someone, but I have no idea who."

"Is everyone okay? Did you manage to fend them off?" Annabeth asked. She remembered Percy's story of how he'd nearly died facing the same monsters on their first quest. _Aiko has more experience than he did back then, but Echidna is bad news any day. What reason would she have for taking someone else's orders?_

"My friend's van got demolished and the chimera clawed me pretty bad, but I managed to kill it before it did any real damage. Echidna ran away after that." Aiko patted one of her shoulders, which Annabeth guessed was bandaged under the pink sweater. "I was just wondering, is there anything odd going on back at Camp, or even on Olympus? This is the first time I've seen a monster since I moved here, and it wasn't just a random attack."

"Nothing too crazy, but I might have some info for you. There's this new Hephaestus camper. He used to live in San Fransokyo, and apparently he's been having dreams about weird stuff going on there. Grover talked to me and Percy about it, and if I remember correctly Echidna was one of the monsters he saw."

Aiko raised her eyebrows. "Does he know who she's working for?"

"Yeah. I think Grover said the guy's name was…Callaghan! That's it. Robert Callaghan."

Aiko's eyes grew wide. "Did you say _Callaghan?_ But that's impossible! He died!"

"You knew him?"

"Of course! He was a teacher at my school. But there was a fire a few weeks ago, and…and he was trapped inside. One of my friends went in after him, but neither of them made it out." Aiko looked away and took a deep breath. "How does this Hephaestus kid know Callaghan, anyway?"

 _Wait...her friend died in a fire. Could it be?_ "This friend…how long ago did he die?"

"It's been about two and a half weeks now. What are you getting at?"

 _Two and a half weeks ago a student at her school died in a fire. It's got to be him!_ "Aiko, what was this boy's name?"

"Tadashi Hamada." She answered suspiciously. "What does he have to do with anything, though?"

 _It_ is _him! Of course!_ Annabeth remembered hearing about his friends once before she'd gone back to school. They'd had odd nicknames, for sure. Wasabi, GoGo, and… "Honey Lemon." _That's_ why Annabeth hadn't thought of the connection before. Aiko had only gotten her nickname after moving away!

"Annabeth, what are you taking about?"

"That's what he called you, right?"

"What does my nickname have to do with _any_ of this? We were talking about Callaghan and that new son of Hephaestus!"

 _It has everything to do with it._ They'd convinced Tadashi not to call home, not to speak to anyone because they didn't think anyone would believe his story. After all, they'd been under the impression that all his old friends were mortal. So for the time being they'd have to let his friends and family think he was dead. But if Annabeth had known that the friend named Honey Lemon was actually Aiko…things might have turned out different.

"Don't freak out. I'm about to drop a huge bomb on you." Annabeth took a deep breath. _I probably shouldn't do this without telling him, but…_ "Your friend and the son of Hephaestus? We're talking about the same person."

Aiko just stared at her for a minute, but suddenly her eyes went wide. "You mean…"

"Tadashi Hamada is still alive."

 **ANOTHER cliffhanger! I'm good at this. But in all seriousness, I have a problem. A serious problem. I'm very, very stuck. Writer's block big time. All I have for next week's chapter is Honey's reaction and a bit of other stuff that I'll probably trash. It's at the point in the movie where the suit building montage took place. I have this vague idea of going over to the villain POV to see what they're up to and do a bit of finale prelude, but that's it. So if anyone has an idea PLEASE let me know! If I like it it may very well end up in the next chapter. The next chapter is actually the last one before I can start setting up for Tadashi's return and the finale. So pls help!**


	12. This Is A Call To Arms

**Choppy and short, but at least it's on time! Reviews kind of dropped last week...but that's what I get for updating at three in the morning on a Sunday! Thanks for your suggestions, by the way. And as for my guest reviewer...pay special attention to the last line. I think you'll like it.**

"Tadashi Hamada is still alive."

If Honey hadn't been sitting down already she would have fallen to her knees. As it was, it still felt like the world had dropped out from under her feet. She felt tears start to form in her eyes.

She'd gone to his funeral. Comforted his brother and aunt and grieved with them. She'd even prayed for his soul to reach Elysium. Honey had been so _sure_ … Stunned as she was, she could only force out one word. " _How?_ "

Annabeth had been gazing at her cautiously, probably trying to see if Honey Lemon would go into a full on panic attack or not. "Calm down, Aiko. It's all right."

"I can't be calm!" Honey still couldn't quite believe her ears, but now joy was beginning to mix with her shock. "Is he all right? Is he at Camp? When was he claimed? How did he get there? How did he get out of the fire? Can I see him?"

"Slow down!" Annabeth let out an awkward laugh. "And as far as I know: he's fine, yes, the night of the fire, Nico Di Angelo, Leo Valdez, and I'm not sure."

Honey raised an eyebrow. "Hold on. Leo Valdez? I thought he was gone for good!"

"Hmm…I'd better start at the beginning." Annabeth decided. "See, we didn't know anything until Leo just showed up at breakfast one morning…"

And so Annabeth filled Honey in on the events of the past few weeks. From the rescue to Tadashi's apparent fire power to the dream he'd had about Callaghan and his monsters, it was a spectacular tale. "And from what Grover told me when he called, Tadashi has been training hard ever since he discovered his new powers." Annabeth finished.

Honey nodded slowly. Tadashi was alive. Tadashi was _alive,_ and a _demigod!_ Not to mention that he was a fire user! It was a little mind-blowing to think that one of her closest friends had been a half-blood and she'd had no idea. Then again, San Fransokyo was the safest mortal city in the United States. It was why she'd move there, after all."And Hiro is a son of Hephaestus too?"

"Yep." Annabeth answered. "Leo said that Hephaestus told him that when he first appeared."

"Should I say anything to him? I get why they've left him in the dark, but with monsters roaming the city it might be best for him to know…" Honey bit her lip, unsure of what to do. Sure, awareness would make Hiro's demigod scent stronger. But it would also give him an edge over monsters that wouldn't hesitate to kill him.

Annabeth shook her head. "It was only one attack, and that was because you went looking for trouble. I don't think the monsters will be an issue unless you seek them out. Besides, Tadashi would probably want to be the one to tell him, am I right?"

"That's true, but…" Honey let out a sheepish laugh. "There may or may not already be a plan to go after Callaghan and whoever is working for him."

"Excuse me?"

"Well, the attack happened the night before last. Hiro is convinced that Callaghan—Yokai is the alias he's been using—has something to do with the fire and Tadashi's death." Honey then went on to explain how she was doing her best to teach everyone how to defend themselves, and how they were arming themselves for the upcoming fights. "Hiro's incorporating everyone's personal tech into their suits, and I think that will help them fight better. But it's crazy how fast he's making them. What he's already done should have taken weeks."

Annabeth nodded. "Hiro may be a technopath, like Beckendorf was. Either way, be careful. Don't go charging in without a plan and don't get into a fight you can't handle. We'll send Tadashi with some reinforcements as soon as possible."

"I'll keep quiet about him for now..." Honey sighed. She knew how badly losing Tadashi had affected Hiro, but if she just told him that his brother was alive out of the blue...well, it wouldn't be pretty. The genius boy would want proof that Honey didn't have. "I'll do my best to keep everyone safe, but Hiro's ridiculously stubborn and I can only do so much."

"Well, if you do get into a bad spot just call. You remember Nico? I'll tell him to be on guard. He can shadow travel himself and a couple other half-bloods to help right away." Suddenly, Honey heard someone knocking on Annabeth's door. "That's got to be Percy. Listen, keep me posted, all right?"

"I will." Honey promised. "Now go have fun!" With that, she waved her hand through Annabeth's image and the connection dissolved. _I've got some things to take care of too…_ She was supposed to meet the others at Hiro's house so they could work on their suits some more. The talk with Annabeth had taken way longer than she'd planned, so Honey was running a bit late. She smiled, thinking of how well they were coming along. _By the time Hiro is finished Callaghan won't know what hit him!_

* * *

One week.

That's how long it took Hiro to finish everyone's suits, and he was pretty darn proud of himself. He'd transformed everyone's projects into incredible tools used for attacking, defense, or in GoGo's case, speed.

Wasabi had green armor, and his laser plasma had been refined so that when in use, it resembled two glowing blades. They were highly dangerous, but with Wasabi's precise personality he would be able to control them easily.

Fred was basically wearing a super powered monster suit that was capable of breathing fire. It also had particular mechanisms in the legs that allowed him to jump several yards at a time.

GoGo's yellow suit matched her maglev discs. She could skate on the discs and also throw them like boomerangs, as the powerful magnets inside pulled them back to her. The sharp edges Hiro added for just a bit of extra destructive power—they needed all the help they could get.

Honey Lemon's equipment had been a bit difficult to design. He wanted to include her skills in both chemistry and monster fighting, but it had taken a while to find a middle ground. She'd told him that her power was stronger when there was stronger light around, so he'd installed lights all over her helmet and made her armor—as well as the short dress she wore under it—out of a holographic material, so if she turned the lights on she sparkled in rainbow colors. In addition to that she carried a purse that contained a mini chemical lab, so she could throw all sorts of nasty surprises at their enemies.

Hiro's suit was purple, and his main 'power' was flying with the newly upgraded Baymax. That would have been it, but Honey had nagged him about defending himself, so he'd added retractable blades to the backs of his gloves.

After many hilarious fails and a near death experience or three, the team was ready. Hiro knew that Honey Lemon didn't want to go after Yokai and the other monsters, but there was no other choice. _We can't just stay put and wait for help from her camp friends. This is the only way._ Hiro reminded himself as he gazed at the others. Today was the first time they were all wearing their gear together, and if anyone happened to look into Fred's backyard that afternoon they'd get a very strange sight indeed.

…But then again it was _Fred's_ house, so strange things were probably routine.

"I think we're ready." Hiro announced, nodding to the rest of the team. He had faith in his creations.

"We're really going today?" Wasabi asked somewhat nervously. "I mean, we only just finished these suits and we aren't really used to them…"

Hiro groaned. "Listen. Baymax and I scanned for Yokai and found him, but that was a week ago. The longer we wait the more likely he is to sic his monster pets on the city. We need to catch him."

"Or at least find out what it is he's after." GoGo put in. "I don't think anyone would do crazy stuff like this without a motive."

"Hmm…" Honey Lemon seemed unusually edgy, her foot tapping rapidly against the ground.

"You all right, Honey?" GoGo asked.

Honey blinked at them, and laughed nervously. "Oh, me? I'm fine. It's just…"

Baymax looked her up and down. "Your emotions appear to be very strong at the moment. It seems that you are feeling nervous. I suggest sharing your feelings with friends and taking a few deep breaths."

"Don't worry about the monsters!" Fred grinned. "I know that last battle must have freaked you out, but if they try to get you this time I'll just torch all of them!

Honey sighed and shook her head. "No, it's not that. I mean yeah, I'm nervous about fighting, but it's just that we don't know what we're running in to. There's a lot about this situation that you guys don't know. I just don't want to move before we're ready."

Hiro was trying to not come off as too annoyed. All through the building of the suits she'd seemed off. Every time one of them mentioned going after the monsters, or Hiro shared his suspicions about Yokai being responsible for Tadashi's death, she got a weird look in her eyes. _I don't want to seem like a jerk, but I think she's hiding something._ But Hiro couldn't just accuse Honey of holding back information—she was too bright, too kindhearted. It just wasn't in her nature. If there was anything really big happening on the mythological side of this conflict she'd definitely share it. Still, her reluctance could be so annoying…

"Listen." Hiro told her, "I know the monsters will be tough to fight, but we've got a bunch of tech that I bet they've never even dreamed about before. We can do this. We're ready." Hiro didn't want to wait any longer. _If Yokai really did start that fire…_ Hiro wouldn't be holding back.

Honey nodded and took a deep breath. "I guess you're right." She stood up and shook herself, as if trying to cast off her negative feelings. "But let's be careful, okay? You never know what could happen in a fight like this."

"Between you and Wasabi I think there's going to me more than enough caution." GoGo teased,smirking. "We'll be _fine._ "

"She's right." Hiro quickly agreed, cutting off Wasabi before he could protest. "Come on, guys. We have a masked man to catch."

* * *

Up on the roof of Fred's mansion, two figures were watching the group. One of them cackled in delight. "They're coming for us, are they? Foolish children!"

The other grinned. "The youngest one has a delightful hatred in his heart…He's done well to hide it, but for us it's easy to tell."

"Yes, Baku. The little Hamada…he wants to kill our master. Such a delightful mess of emotions…" Onryo rubbed her gnarled hands together in anticipation.

It was no surprise that these two spirits were excited by Hiro's vendetta. Wicked deeds, revenge quests, hearts full of hatred…it was what they thrived on. For Baku and Onryo were no Greek monsters—they were amanojaku, Japanese spirits that personified dark desires and loved to tempt mortals to wickedness.

"Coming to this country was one of the best decisions we ever made. These Greeks…oh, what grudges they hold!" Baku laughed again.

Onryo looked at the group in thought for a moment. "You know…we've just been whispering in Callaghan's ear so far. But the Hamada boy has such strong feelings it would be easy to push him over the edge."

"You suggest we tempt him into giving in to his hatred?" Baku asked. She peered down at the little boy. He seemed so bright and happy, which was the exact opposite of the people that amanojaku usually targeted. But Baku could easily sense the grief and rage bubbling under the surface. She could sense how the boy acted when none of his friends were around.

"He might never act on his emotions if left on his own. We are amanojaku, dark deeds and wickedness make us stronger." Onryo told her companion. "And just think of the glorious chaos that will come if he discovered that his brother's beloved professor was the one to start the fire…"

Baku grinned, showing a mouth full of rotting pointed teeth. "We will set them against each other. Let them come…let them try to fight, it will all be in vain!"

Onryo nodded in agreement. "Hiro Hamada will be a very interesting plaything. Thanks to his grief at his brother's death, he'll be perfect for us."

The two evil spirits congratulated themselves on the plan, and began heading back to their base at once. It would be best to catch the intruders by surprise, after all.

But little did they know that thousands of miles away, that very same brother had just awoken in a cold sweat.

Tadashi Hamada had heard _everything._

 **So you can probably guess where things are headed now, eh? I quite like how I wrote the last scene, the narrator bits were fun. I made changes to Honey's suit because it would make sense to incorporate her demigod powers. The orange parts on her original helmet are where the lights are. Just imagine her being hella sparkly. Please let me know what you thought of this week's chapter!**


	13. Gather, Soldiers!

**It's the moment you've all been waiting for! Well, one of them at least. Tadashi returns to San Fransokyo! Huzzah!**

Tadashi woke up so fast he nearly fell out of bed. _"Hiro Hamada will be a very interesting plaything. Thanks to his grief at his brother's death, he'll be perfect for us."_ Horror ran through his body when he realized the full implications of his dream. Hiro and the others were going to go after Callaghan with barely tested equipment and fighting skills, and the amanojaku were _waiting_ for it...they were excited! _Damn it, Hiro! You're going to get yourself killed!_

Tadashi threw off the covers and got out of bed, quickly grabbing his clothes. He didn't know how late he'd be, but there was no way in hell he'd let his little brother charge into danger and not do anything about it _. It'll probably be fastest if I take one of the pegasi...even then, so much could go wrong before I make it there..._ But Tadashi had no time to wonder. He'd run to the forge, grab his gear, and then hijack a pegasus and be on his way. _Never thought I'd be making a plan like that_. Tadashi though as he crept out of the cabin. He'd gotten his little brother out of trouble countless times, but these circumstances were definitely the strangest.

Luckily, Tadashi managed to get away from the cabins without being spotted. Or so he thought. Halfway to the forge, a shadow popped up right in his path to only to form into Nico Di Angelo.

"Move it, Nico! I'm in a hurry!" Tadashi growled.

"I don't think so. Care to explain what you're doing out here in the middle of the night?" The son of Hades asked, an eyebrow raised.

"Seriously, just go back to bed. It's nothing you need to worry about." Tadashi tried to step around Nico, but the younger boy just moved with him and continued to block his path.

"It's about your little brother, isn't it? Hiro?" Nico asked.

Tadashi stared at him. "Yeah...how'd you know?"

Nico let out a short laugh. "You're pretty easy to read. Every time you talk about him getting into trouble you have the same look on your face. So what's he doing this time?"

Tadashi groaned. "He and a bunch of my friends are going after Callaghan by themselves. With barely tested equipment and a half-baked plan."

"So in short, they're doomed. And you're running off to save their butts."

"Pretty much. I can't just let them take on who knows how many monsters alone. I probably won't get there in time, but..."

"All right." Nico said.

"What?"

"I'm going with you."

Tadashi stared at him, puzzled. "Why?"

"One, doing things on your own never works out well. I've been there, trust me. Two, by the time you got there whatever nonsense is about to happen will probably be long over. I can get you to San Fransokyo faster than just about anyone. And three, Annabeth actually asked me to be on call for this exact kind of emergency. So go grab your gear, I'll meet you in the forge in five minutes. That's where you were headed, right?" Nico asked.

"Yeah. I'll, uh, see you there." Tadashi didn't really know what to make of the sudden offer of help, so he just watched as Nico disappeared into the darkness again. Tadashi was more than willing to bet that Nico had gone to wake up Will.

 _It's probably for the best, anyway. Nico is crazy strong and Will is a great healer. And if Nico uses that shadow power to get us there..._ Tadashi nodded to himself and started running again. _Nico's still just a kid, but he might just tip the odds in my favor._

Once Tadashi was finally at the forge, he ran towards one of the work tables in the back where his armor lay. Quickly, he put on the fireproof long sleeve shirt and pants that Calypso had made him. (They were colored a dark orange). He was in the middle of putting on his armor when he heard footsteps coming from the entrance to the forge.

"Well, someone was clearly aiming for style." Will commented lightly. Tadashi looked up quickly to see him and Nico approaching. They both held weapons and Nico had even put on a couple pieces of black armor. He held a skull shaped helmet under his arm. "I can't imagine wearing armor like that. I'm an archer, we stay out of the melee."

"I need all the protection I can get. I don't know what kind of monsters could be on Callaghan's side." Tadashi sighed as he strapped bracers to his arms. Sure, the armor was heavy, but if it kept him from getting burned again then it was well worth the annoyance. Tadashi looked down at himself and nodded—everything was in order. Dark sneakers, orange pants with greaves on his lower legs, orange shirt, chest armor with shoulder pads, bracers on his arms, and gloves on his hands. Everything was orange and bronze, so if it was sunny out Tadashi would look like some kind of crazy phoenix or something. (Which was awesome, but now really wasn't the time to think about it.) Tadashi picked up his disguised spear and helmet. "You two ready to go?"

"Yeah. But what kind of situation are we running into, exactly? I don't want to travel there and end up with a sword at my neck." Nico declared.

So, Tadashi quickly recounted his dream. The plan of the amanojaku, the building of the suits, the plan to go to Akuma Island. "I don't know what kind of powers the spirits have, since they're Japanese instead of Greek. But if they're expecting Hiro nothing good can come of it."

"Not to mention all the other bloodthirsty nasties that are probably waiting for him." Will said, then blushed at the dirty look Tadashi gave him. "Just trying to ease the tension."

"Well, don't. We need to be on guard and we need to have a plan." Nico put a hand on his boyfriend's shoulder. "Any ideas?"

After a few short minutes of discussion, the three boys decided on a plan of action. They'd hang back once they got there and get the gist of the situation. If Tadashi's friends got into more trouble than they could handle, he and Nico would pick off enemies from the sidelines. They'd only reveal themselves if something really bad happened, because as Nico said, "We need to keep the element of surprise." Will would act as a sniper and/or battlefield medic in case anyone got too hurt to fight.

"Can we get going?" Tadashi asked impatiently. Hiro and the others were probably well on their way by now.

"Fine, fine. Put your helmet on." Nico said as he did the same. Tadashi put his reinforced motorcycle helmet over his head. Sound was a bit muffled and the dark visor made it seem like he was wearing sunglasses, but he'd be able to fight well enough. Actually, the tint would keep him from getting blinded by his own fire.

Nico held out his hands. Will took one immediately, and Tadashi did after a skeptical second. _How does this shadow travel work, exactly?_ He wondered, since he'd been unconscious the last time. "Now, am I aiming for your place or that island?"

"The island. Hiro and the others are probably there already."

"Right. I've never been there before, so I don't know what we'll be dropping in on. Just be on guard and don't let go." Nico tightened his grip on Tadashi and Will's hands, and without any further warning the dimly lit forge disappeared.

If Tadashi had to come up with a comparison, it would be an extremely fast rollercoaster. Everything was dark and it felt like they were moving thousands of miles an hour—which was really disorienting, because Tadashi knew he hadn't taken a step. But before he knew it the bizarre sensation stopped and suddenly there was ground under his feet. Tadashi let go of Nico's hand to steady himself. A second later he looked around and found that they were in a rusty, dilapidated hallway that could have smelled a whole lot better. The hall split in two directions just a little ways ahead of them, and it was lined with heavy looking metal doors.

"We're here." Nico announced. "Get ready."

Instead of being amazed that he'd traveled thousands of miles almost instantaneously, Tadashi shifted his screwdriver into spear form. Nico twisted the ring on his finger and it became an impressive black sword. Will took an arrow out of the quiver on his back.

"So? Where do we go from here?" The son of Apollo asked.

Before Tadashi could get out any kind of reply, he heard footsteps coming their way. "Quick! Hide!" He hissed. But there was nothing to get behind.

"Get against the wall. I can hide us in the shadows." Nico whispered quickly. The three of them quickly pressed their bodies against the less than clean surface. A second later, darkness spread across Tadashi's vision. But unlike before, he could still hear what was going on around him, and he could see a little bit.

It wasn't a second too late that Nico hid them, because at that very moment a group of people rounded the corner.

"Baymax, can you do a scan?" A young boy asked. Tadashi had to bite his tongue to keep from calling out—that was _Hiro_.

"The walls of the building are interfering with my sensor." A calm, all too familiar voice answered. Tadashi's robot, who was now wearing full battle armor. _Of course my brother would find a way to turn a nursebot into a weapon._ Still, Hiro's work was pretty impressive. Tadashi got quite a good look as his friends and brother passed. _I just hope the armor holds up in battle._

"Great. The robot's broken." Wasabi said sarcastically.

The group passed Tadashi by without a second glance. When they had gotten a little farther down the hall, Honey Lemon (it could only be her in a suit that sparkly) paused. For a second Tadashi thought she might have sensed him and the others somehow, but then he realized she was looking in a doorway.

"Um, guys? Take a look at this." The others gathered around her, and soon enough they all went inside. A few seconds after that, Nico dropped the shadow camouflage.

"Remember, stay out of sight until we know what's going on." Nico advised.

Will rolled his eyes. "And help without revealing ourselves for as long as possible. We know, Death Boy."

The son of Hades shot him a look that clearly showed it wasn't Will he was worried about. Tadashi wasn't bothered—he knew it would be better to not let the monsters know what they were up against, but if his friends or brother got into a tight spot he wouldn't be holding back. _I'm_ not _going to let anyone die here._ "Come on, let's do this."

The group of three approached the room slowly. They peeked their heads in, and were greeted by a giant flying piece of rubble. Opposite where it crashed was a man in a kabuki mask, standing upon a mountain of microbots.

Dread pooled in Tadashi's stomach. "You don't think he—"

"Shh! Look there!" Will cut Tadashi off, pointing to the mountain of rubble. It shifted, then burst outward to reveal Hiro, Baymax, and the others standing perfectly unharmed.

"Surrender and we won't cut you down!" Hiro threatened boldly. Yokai made no reply.

A fiendish cackle answered him eventually. Tadashi groaned when Echidna came slithering out of the shadows, an evil look on her face. "Are you _sure,_ young one?" She asked patronizingly, then raised her arms and beckoned behind her. Monstrous forms poured out of nowhere and gathered in a deadly pack. "I told you not to interfere."

"This is bad." Honey Lemon warned, "A pack of hellhounds, a whole bunch of lesser chimera—they've got fire but no poison. Guys, I don't know if we should—"

"We've come this far." Hiro cut her off. "We have to try."

Yokai raised a hand, and Echidna cackled wildly. "Kill them, my children! Kill them all!"

"Let's go, then!" Honey Lemon called, and held up something small. Tadashi blinked, and suddenly she was holding a glowing bronze sword. _That's a demigod weapon!_ "Whatever you do, don't get cornered! Charge!"

His friends rushed at the monsters, and chaos erupted into the room. Fred was his own brand of disaster, no monster could keep up with GoGo, Wasabi was cutting down enemies one by one, and Honey Lemon…

Well, Tadashi was surprised, to say the least. His happy, bubbly friend was surrounded by a corona of multicolored light. She handled her sword like a seasoned veteran, and monster after monster fell to her glowing blade. Tadashi'd had no _idea_ she could fight like that. _Is she…is she a demigod too?_

But it wasn't enough. Though monsters burst into dust when they met Honey's blade, there were always more to come. And the others weren't faring nearly as well. They couldn't vaporize the monsters, only wound them. And Hiro, who'd flown after Yokai on Baymax, couldn't seem to break through the constant waves of microbots that were being thrown at him.

"Is it time?" Will asked from beside Tadashi. He nodded grimly, and the blond gave him a tight smile. "Good. I'll hide in the wreckage of the observation room."

"I'll shadow travel to the wrecked portal and try to summon some skeletons." Nico decided.

"Guess I'll throw a few fireballs from here, then." Tadashi nodded to his comrades. "Let's cause some havoc, all right?"

Will grinned at him before running in, and Nico faded into darkness. Tadashi took a deep breath and turned back to the battle.

It wasn't going well. Hiro was trying to reach Callaghan, but he couldn't make it through the constant waves of microbots being thrown at him. The girls were doing pretty well, but one of Wasabi's plasma blades looked like it was fizzing out and Fred had been surrounded by a pack of hellhounds. _That's where I'll hit first!_ Tadashi felt the familiar rush of heat as a fireball formed in his right hand. Once it was big enough, he threw it like he would a baseball. It sailed into the room and hit its mark, causing one of the hellhounds to yelp in pain. Tadashi quickly threw two more fireballs before ducking behind the door. He looked back out a minute later and smiled in satisfaction when he saw that Fred was now holding his own. A cluster of arrows suddenly appeared from nowhere and took out a few of the lesser chimera that had been ganging up on GoGo—Will was in place. And when the ground rumbled, cracked open, and three skeletons popped out, Tadashi thought they'd evened the odds.

For a little bit, they did make things better. Tadashi's friends seemed a little confused at the fire, arrows, and undead soldiers that seemed to be hitting anything _but_ them, though they kept fighting.

That was, until a new monster's roar erupted over the chaos. Insane laughter followed, and Tadashi scanned the room frantically before finding the source—Echidna. She was standing at a corner of the room, and there was something huge and writhing in the shadows behind her. "Don't think you can win this battle!" She shrieked. "It ends here and now! Hydra, go forth and kill them all!"

The monster burst onto the battlefield, all nine heads howling for blood. Tadashi's heart dropped—his friends couldn't handle an acid spitting behemoth on top of everything else. _Should I go?_ If you cut off a hydra head, the only way to stop it regrowing was to burn the stump. And Tadashi had a very easy way of accomplishing that. But before he could run out of his hiding place, the hydra had found itself a target.

Hiro and Baymax.

 _Oh, no…_ Tadashi froze in shock as the monster charged at the duo. It opened several of its mouths, and Tadashi knew what that meant—the thing was getting ready to spit acid. His little brother was still trying to get at Callaghan. His back was turned. He had no _idea_ … "Hiro! _Move!_ " Tadashi yelled, and lobbed his biggest fireball yet at the hydra.

He was only a second too late. Tadashi's flames hit their mark, but not before a glob of green acid sailed out of the hydra and hit one of Baymax's legs. The robot crashed to the ground, and somehow Hiro was sent flying. Tadashi's little brother sailed across the room and hit a wall before falling to the ground.

Tadashi breathed a sigh of relief when Hiro staggered to his feet, but that relief quickly turned to horror when he saw some of the lesser chimera Honey had been fighting turn their attention on him. He heard Honey let out an uncharacteristic curse, but she was still facing too many monsters to be of any help to Hiro. Even from this distance, Tadashi could see the alarm in his brother's face. The boy tapped something on his gloves and a small blade popped out of each one. But against six fire breathing beasts they would do no good.

"G-get away from me!" Hiro demanded, holding up his paltry defense. But the group of chimera only came closer. "Hey, I could use some help over here!" All the others were busy—even Baymax had his hands full fighting the hydra.

And then suddenly, Tadashi wasn't hiding by the entrance anymore. He was running at top speed towards Hiro.

 _I don't care how many there are! There's no way I'll leave my little brother to die!_ He vaulted over the nearest chimera and came to a stop right in front of his brother. Tadashi saw the confusion in his eyes, but there wasn't time to explain. "Get down and _stay_ down!" Tadashi shoved Hiro to the floor and turned to face the monsters—

Only to be engulfed by a giant wave of fire. Hiro might have shouted from behind him. Tadashi almost panicked too, but then he remembered he was currently fireproof. _I'll have to thank Calypso for that later._ He reminded himself.

The chimera pack growled and glowered at him when they realized he hadn't been burnt to a crisp. But it was no match for Tadashi's anger. He was _beyond_ pissed right now. Nobody, monster or human, could try to kill his little brother and get away with it. This wasn't just a group of thugs they had to get away from—this was life and death.

Tadashi took a fighting stance, his spear held ready. "Try that again," he growled, and lit his free hand on fire. "And I'll turn you all to ash."

 **Dang. Don't mess with Tadashi's little bro. This reunion kind of snuck up on me, but I'm glad we're here now. Things are sure to get hella dramatic soon, so hold on tight!**


	14. Time To Go To War

**Badass Tadashi is awesome Tadashi. I hope you all like this chapter, battle scenes aren't my strong point. And I hope you enjoy semi-manic Nico, he was fun to write. In other news, since I last updated I've fallen _completely_ in love with Seraph of the End. It's a great manga/anime if you're okay with dark stuff. And minor curse warning this chapter, kittens. Hiro has a bit of a potty mouth~**

Everything had been going pretty well for Nico until he spotted Tadashi running into the fray. Nico had found himself a nice hidden vantage point and summoned a group of skeletons to do his bidding. The looks on the mortals' faces were _priceless._ But fun as it was, messing with them wasn't the point. Nico had guided his warriors to assist Tadashi's friends and kill as many monsters as possible, and even used the shadows to ensnare some hellhounds a couple times. Though when Hiro and the robot were shot down via hydra acid, Nico had braced himself for chaos. So he wasn't at all surprised when Tadashi ran to his brother's side—from what Nico knew of the older demigod he'd do anything to protect his family.

But now that Hiro was down, there was nobody left to fight Callaghan. Nico looked around the cavernous room quickly and found the masked man trying to escape through a hole in the roof. _I don't think so!_ Thanking his not-so-often lucky stars that it was dark, Nico once again disappeared into the shadows.

Callaghan recoiled in shock when Nico appeared right in front of him, and the son of Hades smirked before swinging his sword as hard as he could. He'd struck with the flat of his blade though, so the strike that would have cleaved a monster in two just sent Callaghan crashing to the ground in a shower of microbots. Twisted though he was at times, Nico only killed when he had to.

A wave of microbots met his sword when he swung it again. Nico scowled, these things were beginning to get on his nerves. Shadows twisted around his body as he fought, preventing the tiny things from latching onto him and doing who-knew-what. _Get in close…he has no regular weapons, if I get in close enough he's finished._ With that thought, Nico charged at Callaghan faster than he had before and managed to whack the older man on the head. The force was enough to make him stumble, and Nico took full advantage of the opportunity. He punched Callaghan so hard that the kabuki mask cracked, though it didn't break. While his opponent was dazed, Nico made one last strike and grabbed the mask, ripping it from Callaghan's face and throwing it across the room. The microbots fell to the floor and Nico grinned savagely. "You're finished, you wannabe villain!"

Apparently, this taunt had been louder than Nico expected. All around him the battles slowly ended. Nico couldn't fathom the reason why the monsters would freeze as well, but nevertheless silence crept over the room.

That is, until a shocked voice no older than his own called out, "P-Professor Callaghan?"

* * *

Hiro wasn't sure what hit Baymax, but it was powerful enough to knock him off. He had the faint idea that he needed to make the magnets on his suit stronger before he slammed into a wall, hard. He fell to the ground in a daze and probably wouldn't have moved if he had the choice, but this was a battlefield. Standing still could get him killed, as Honey Lemon had said more than once.

When he managed to get up and look around, dread ran through his body. A bunch of the chimera had surrounded him—six of the monsters, to be exact. _Oh, man. This is bad…I didn't plan on fighting monsters directly._ Hiro didn't know if he could get away, much less kill the beasts. Still, he had to do _something._

Hiro hit the buttons on his gloves and the blades sprang out. He held them up in front of him. "G-get away from me!" He shouted. But in all honesty his desperation probably made him seem like even more of a target. "Hey, guys! I could use some help over here!" Nobody answered, they were all caught in their own fights. Even Baymax was fighting a huge snake monster, which was probably the thing that had hit them before. Hiro was on his own. The group of chimera began to open their mouths, most likely to breathe fire, and Hiro know he was done for.

But then out of nowhere, a strange figure appeared. Hiro had definitely never seen the orange clothes and gold armor before, but things were happening too fast for him to wonder about who he was or why he was carrying a spear in one hand. The man—from his build, he had to be—vaulted right over one of the chimera surrounding Hiro. He stared at Hiro for a moment, face hidden by a helmet. And just as suddenly as he appeared, the stranger shoved Hiro to the ground. "Get down and _stay_ down!" He ordered angrily, before turning to face the monsters. But before he could attack, they blew a great wave of fire and completely engulfed him. Had Hiro been standing, he would have been caught in the inferno.

" _No!_ " He yelled. Even though this man was a stranger, he didn't deserve to die trying to save Hiro. _Not like Tada…shi…_ Hiro's thoughts trailed off when he noticed the stranger was still standing tall. His clothes hadn't even been singed.

The man dropped into a battle stance as a bright ball of fire formed in his right hand. "Try that again," he growled with obvious fury, "And I'll turn you all to ash." Hiro gaped at his rescuer. _What the ever-loving_ fuck _is going on here? Who_ is _this guy?_

One of the chimera growled and stepped closer. The man laughed humorlessly. "Big mistake." And quick as a snake, he threw the fireball in its face.

That move was the beginning of a fight that blew Hiro's mind. In a bizarre combination of fire, stabs, and at one point an unintentional piggyback ride, the stranger dispatched the group of chimera. He was fighting too desperately to seem like an expert and got a few nasty knocks, but somehow beat five out of six monsters without even being cut. The last chimera looked at the warrior for a minute, then whimpered and fled. Sighing hugely, he turned back to Hiro and offered his hand. "You okay?"

"Yeah—hey, I should be asking you that! How'd you fight off those things? Who are you?" Hiro took his hand and stood up, eyeing the stranger warily. _Normal people can't fight like that. And that fire, he can't be any ordinary human. And why does it feel like I've heard his voice before?_ "Are you a…demigod?"

The stranger nodded. "I'll explain later, okay? Just stick close to me, the fight isn't over yet."

But before Hiro could reply there was a burst of maniacal, half-crazed laughter followed by a huge crash. "You're finished, you wannabe villain!" an unfamiliar voice taunted.

Hiro felt the oddest rush of cold as he found the source of the noise. The speaker was small, like him, and wearing black armor. But more importantly was the figure standing in front of him. Yokai. And he was unmasked.

Hiro _knew_ that face. It was that of the person his brother had given his life trying to save. But it couldn't be. That fire…nobody could have survived. Feeling like the world had been yanked out from under him, Hiro tentatively called out. "P-Professor Callaghan?"

Maybe it was because everyone had frozen, but Hiro could have sworn the room was growing colder.

Callaghan staggered to his feet, breathing hard. "What?" He asked, sounding irritated. "You've just fought a bunch of monsters. Is this really all that surprising?"

"The explosion…you died." _How can he be here?_

"No." Callaghan growled. "I had your microbots."

"B-but Tadashi. You just let him die." Hiro stuttered in horror. "He went in there to _save_ you."

 _"That's right."_ A voice whispered in his mind. " _Your brother died for nothing."_

 _"He's gone because of that man."_ A second, similar voice added. " _The one who stole your hard work and is using it to terrorize the city._ "

Hiro ignored this sudden bout of schizophrenia and waited for an answer form the former professor.

Callaghan glared at all of them. "That was his mistake. He's gone because he got involved in something that had nothing to do with him. So will you be, if you keep butting in."

 _Tadashi's death…a mistake? He doesn't…he doesn't care?_ Hiro didn't want to believe this. He couldn't. This wasn't the same kindly man that his brother had looked up to.

" _That's right, Robert could care less about Tadashi…he never did, in fact. It was all a lie._ "

" _He consorts with monsters. What good person does that?_ "

" _He deserves to be punished."_ The voices said together.

Hiro didn't know what these whispers were, didn't know why he was feeling so cold, but he did know that they were right. "Callaghan…" Hiro muttered furiously. _How dare he..._

Before he could move, a hand landed on his shoulder. Annoyed, Hiro turned around to face the man in gold armor. "What's going on? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. But _he_ won't be." Hiro turned back to Callaghan, fists trembling in rage. Glaring, Hiro began to advance towards the older man.

 _"Go, boy. Give him what he deserves."_

 _"We've even stopped the monsters for you. Do what must be done."_ It may have been Hiro's imagination, but the voices almost seemed excited.

"Hiro, stop! What do you think you're doing?" GoGo demanded.

Hiro paused for a moment, to look at her and the rest of the room. His friends, the strangers, and every single monster in the room had stopped moving. Nearly all of them were looking right at him. If it was really the creepy voices that had made everyone stop, then Hiro was grateful to them. It would have been impossible to get at Callaghan in the chaos of a few minutes before. When his eyes landed on Baymax, an idea sparked in Hiro's mind. He locked eyes with the robot and pointed at Callaghan. "Baymax. Destroy him!"

The robot shook his head. "My healthcare protocol prevents me from injuring a human being."

This time, Hiro charged at the robot instead. "Not anymore!" _It's not like Callaghan has a human heart anymore._

"Oh no you don't!" The gold armored stranger grabbed one of Hiro's arms. Hiro tried to pull away, but the stranger's grip was too tight.

"Let me _go,_ damn it!" Hiro continued to struggle, but it was no use. "Baymax, get him!"

Hiro reached towards the robot desperately, and all of a sudden he felt the oddest sensation, like something had snapped within himself. Just as this happened, the access port on Baymax's chest opened and the green chip flew out. Before Hiro could wonder what exactly he'd done, Baymax straightened. Even from here Hiro could see that his eyes were now glowing red. "Destroy him!"

Baymax focused on Callaghan, and without hesitating launched one of his gauntlets at the professor's head. Somehow Callaghan managed to dodge, but Baymax just charged after him.

"Take out the robot!" Callaghan yelled in fear. But the monsters just stayed where they were. "Why aren't you doing anything?"

 _"I hope you appreciate our help."_ The mysterious voices were back.

" _It's not easy to manipulate the will of so many at once, even if they aren't human."_ The second one added, and Hiro nodded in satisfaction. If the monster horde was moving around like it had been before there would have been no chance of taking Callaghan out. Their stillness was eerie, but Hiro was grateful for it.

Now Callaghan was running. Several times he would have been hit by Baymax's attacks, but Hiro's friends kept jumping in and throwing off his aim. The skeleton warriors from before were in on it too, and arrows kept flying out of nowhere and bouncing off Baymax's armor.

"What did you _do?_ " The stranger demanded.

"I did what I had to! We can't let Callaghan get away!" Hiro thought that maybe now, when the stranger was distracted, he could get away. But it was useless, his grip was as strong as ever.

By now Callaghan had reached the edge of the room and was scrambling through support beams, trying to evade Baymax. And Baymax was just crashing through everything, heedless of the destruction he was causing. Any monsters they came near just shifted out of the way in a daze. Suddenly, Callaghan tripped over a piece of rubble. Hiro thought that would be the end of it, but the old man managed to get back on his feet and away from Baymax. But this time there was something in his hands.

The mask.

 _No!_ But held back as he was, Hiro couldn't do anything to stop Callaghan from putting his mask back on and summoning the microbots to his side once more. _He's getting away!_

Baymax raised his arm to fire another rocket fist, but before he could a black shape appeared literally out of nowhere, right in front of him—the black armored stranger who'd revealed Callaghan in the first place. He made a couple quick motions and suddenly Baymax relaxed. _Damn it! He must have put the healthcare chip back in!_

Callaghan paused in his retreat, taking in the new development. Hiro thought for sure that he would attack, but the microbots just continued carrying him up to the hole in the roof.

"Echidna! Take your minions and get out of here. This isn't a battle we need to be fighting." Callaghan ordered as he retreated.

"But the half-bloods are all here! Why not kill them now and save yourself the trouble? They've even stopped their strongest weapon!" The snake woman hissed. Hiro didn't know where she'd gone to during the fighting itself, but suddenly she was there, standing next to a large, multi-headed snake monster.

"That's not the plan!" Callaghan snapped, "The deal was that you listen to me until the job is done. Now take the filthy things and meet me on the mainland!" He didn't wait to see if his order would be followed, choosing instead to escape in the hole in the roof via microbots. Hiro tried once more to go after him, but the stranger still stubbornly refused to let go.

Echidna growled. "The man is too soft…children, away for now! We will test these heroes another day."

With many growls and odd, slithering noises, the pack of monsters began to retreat. Some into the shadows, some out the door, until all of them were gone.

For a moment, nobody moved. Then the kid wearing black armor called out. "They're gone. Nothing's going to come out and get us."

"How do you know?" Wasabi, ever the worrywart, demanded.

"I can summon skeletons to fight for me. Sensing nearby life forces is a piece of cake compared to that." The kid told him. _Doing that…he's got to be a demigod. Still, it doesn't give him the right to but in!_ Hiro thought, half in annoyance and half in respect for his skill.

"You should see him when he's mad!" A cheerful, unknown voice called. Hiro looked around to find a boy, who couldn't be more than two years older than him, standing on top of the giant pile of rubble that used to be the observation room. This boy was dressed only in an orange t-shirt and shorts, looking seriously out of place among everyone else. Judging by the bow in his hands, Hiro guessed that he was the source of the arrows that had become scattered across the battlefield. When the blond kid reached everyone else the golden armored man finally, _finally_ let Hiro go.

Hiro spun around to glare at him. "What the heck was that? We had him! Why'd you stop me?"

"And what would you have done if you caught him?" The stranger yelled. "Huh? Could you really live with killing someone? That's _not_ you, Hiro!"

Now Hiro was even more furious. _What gives him the right to criticize me? He's not Tadashi, he doesn't know anything!_ "And how would you know? It's not like you're my brother."

For some reason, the stranger recoiled at this accusation. _Good. He doesn't deserve to tell me what to do._ "Baymax. We're going after him."

"My scanner has been damaged, and my armor as well. It is really not in your best interest to—"

"Then I'll fix it! We can't waste any time. Wings." Hiro ordered, marching over to the robot.

"Wait! You can't do this by yourself!" The stranger called to him. "Don't go!"

"Don't tell me what to do!" Hiro ran for it. _I won't let him stop me again._ He knew the stranger was running after him, and that the rest of the assembled group probably was too, but he managed to get to Baymax first. "Fly! Now!"

"I must advise that you—"

"Just _do_ it!" Hiro screamed. He had only seconds before the others pulled him down. Luckily, Baymax listened to his command and powered on his rockets. Just as they lifted off the floor, the stranger called out one last time.

"Please! Just let me explain—"

" _No!_ My brother is _dead_ because of that man! I don't want you to explain _anything_ to me!" Hiro would have never admitted it to anyone, but at that moment he was crying. Baymax's damaged rockets lifted them unsteadily off the floor, towards the hole in the roof.

"There's something you don't know! Hiro, _I'm your—_ "

Hiro didn't hear the rest of the stranger's desperate explanation and he didn't care.

Because he was already gone.

* * *

"There's something you don't know! Hiro, _I'm your brother!_ "

If Hiro heard, he gave no sign of it. The boy was gone, disappeared through the hole in the roof like Callaghan has a few moments ago. _No, no, no…if I'd have told him sooner this wouldn't have happened. Damn it!_ The amanojaku had exploited Hiro's grief and anger and nearly driven him to murder. He didn't know exactly what they'd said to Hiro, but Tadashi had felt the inexplicable cold coiling around his brother, and he'd seen Hiro's expression gradually turn from grief to fury. All because he thought Tadashi was dead.

There was only silence in the room for several long minutes. "We need to go after him." Tadashi decided. But at that moment, he realized that his four old friends were staring at him with a mix of shock, disbelief, and in GoGo's case, extreme anger.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. You're not going anywhere." GoGo told him, taking a suspicious step forward. "You're going to explain what the hell you just said."

"You're his _brother_? Does that mean…" Fred asked, at a loss for words. Tadashi had never seen him looking so serious.

"I, um, I..." Tadashi didn't know what to do. Sure, he'd planned on revealing himself when he returned, but now that he was staring that moment in the face he was lost.

"Just go." Honey Lemon said quietly. When Tadashi looked at her, he found that she was the only one who didn't seem surprised. "Don't worry about us. You can explain later, but right now you need to find Hiro before he does something he'll regret."

 _She's so mush calmer than the rest. Did she...did she know? But how?_ Tadashi wondered. "I—"

"You're not the only one who's been keeping secrets, Tadashi." Honey Lemon smiled sadly. "Now go find your little brother."

Tadashi wanted to protest for a minute, but he just nodded. There would be time for talking later, but right now finding Hiro was top priority. "Nico? We need to go to the Lucky Cat Café." Tadashi was more than willing to bet that Hiro had gone back home to repair Baymax.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm on it." The son of Hades held out one hand to Tadashi and the other to Will. As soon as the three of them connected, they shadows swallowed them.

When he could see again, Tadashi found himself on a quiet back street, facing an open garage. He didn't know how Nico could be so accurate having never been there before, but that was _his_ garage. Tadashi had spent enough time working there to know it on sight, without the large and obvious figure of Baymax lurking inside. He heard the robot say something, but he was too far away to know what it was. But whatever the statement was, Hiro's anguished voice drowned it out.

"Tadashi's _gone!_ " _Hiro…oh, no._

"Come on," Tadashi whispered to Will and Nico, and the three of them crept across the street. Just as they reached the door, Tadashi heard Baymax's calm voice.

"Tadashi is here."

Hiro shook his head. "No. No, he's _not_ here."

"Tadashi is here." Baymax repeated a bit more forcefully, and pointed. Hiro looked up, then sighed in disappointment when he saw the group of demigods.

"That's not him. They were just helping us." Hiro wiped his eyes and gave them a halfhearted wave. "Hey...Sorry for storming off like that. It's just…it hasn't been that long since my brother died. When Callaghan just brushed it off like that, I snapped."

"It's okay." Will told him, "Everyone has buttons people shouldn't push."

Hiro nodded and sighed, looking at the floor. "He's gone. I know it was wrong to freak out like that, but I just miss him. I just wish I could see him again."

"What if I told you that you could?" Nico asked quietly, giving Tadashi a not-so-subtle shove forward.

Hiro looked back at them curiously, but before he could ask what Nico was talking about a glowing cloud of mist erupted between them, and formed into the irritated figure of Leo Valdez. An Iris-message. _Damn it! Not now!_

"Where the heck did you _go_?" The Latino boy threw his hands up in exasperation. "Harley woke up and noticed you weren't in your bed. He got the rest of us up and we've been searching the entire camp! And wait, why are Nico and Will with you?"

 _Oh, crap._ Tadashi hadn't thought about what would happen when the rest of Camp Half-Blood realized he was gone. "I, uh, had another dream." Tadashi explained. "Things were about to get really bad. I ran into Nico and now we're…in San Fransokyo? Listen, this really isn't the best time…" Tadashi explained hesitantly.

Leo groaned. "You could have _told_ me, instead of running off on your own! Damn it, Tadashi, I thought you trusted us!"

"Wait. Hold on." Hiro said from behind the Iris-Message. Slowly, he walked around to Tadashi's side so he could stare at Leo. "You called him…Tadashi"

Leo raised an eyebrow at him. "Who are you?"

"Hiro Hamada."

Leo blinked at him, but his eyes went wide as realization spread across his face. "You're his…and he's still wearing the…he hasn't…you don't know yet. Oh, gods...I made a mistake, didn't I?"

Hiro looked from Leo to Tadashi and back. "What are you talking about?" He asked cautiously.

"Sorry! It's not my story to tell. I'll call back later, all right?" With that nervous statement, Leo waved his hand and the IM disappeared.

Slowly, Hiro turned around to face Tadashi. Disbelief was all over his face. "What—what you were trying to tell me when I left. It can't be. It _can't_ be."

 _I guess it's now or never._ Tadashi thought, and took a deep breath. He reached up and pulled the helmet off his head. Hiro's jaw dropped, and Tadashi gave him the mother of all awkward smiles.

"Hey, little brother. I'm home."

 **Hehehehe. _Hehehehehe. MUAHAHAHAHA!_ I did the thing! I can only imagine your faces when you get to this cliffhanger! My friend/unofficial beta cursed me out when I showed her the ending for this chapter. So I knew it was good. But in all seriousness, I wasn't being deliberately cruel. This was just the best place to end the chapter without making it a ten thousand word behemoth. Okay, maybe not ten thousand. But you get the point. And not to be a whiner, but I feel like reviews have been dropping a bit lately. So give me your reactions, my loves! Reviews are my favorite!**

 **(And here's a bit of an Easter egg: The titles of the last three chapters are all part of a 30 Seconds to Mars song. Kudos if you can figure out which one!)**


	15. Together Again

**Hehehehehe. I see you all liked my last cliffhanger. And as for you, Bighero6fan D, since you have your PM's disabled: Tadashi didn't tell Hiro who he was right away because they were in the middle of a fight. It may have prevented Hiro from going crazy there at the end but it would have really distracted him, and in a fight like that distractions can get you killed.**

Honey Lemon just watched as Tadashi and the two other demigods disappeared into the shadows.

"Okay, so do you mind telling me what the _hell_ is going on?" GoGo demanded, turning to Honey Lemon. "Was that really Tadashi? Were those demigods with him? And where did they _go?_ "

"And the fire!" Fred put in, "I saw the gold armored guy throwing these giant fireballs at the monsters! How can he do that if he's our Tadashi?"

"Honey…you didn't seem too surprised. Did you know about this before today?" Wasabi asked suspiciously.

Honey sighed. "Well, yeah. I knew. That was Tadashi. He's been with the demigods all this time."

"Why didn't you _tell_ us?" GoGo demanded, "How do you even know?"

The looks on their faces just about killed Honey Lemon. Her friends were shocked, of course, but they also looked betrayed. _Why'd they have to find out like this?_ "Remember back after the chimera attacked us, when I said I'd call my old friends and see if anything was wrong? That's when I found out."

"A whole week?" Wasabi asked, "You knew how hard losing him was on the rest of us—Hiro most of all. How could you do that?"

"And what would have happened if I said anything?" Honey Lemon demanded, trying not to cry. She'd felt guilty about this the whole time, but now it was even worse because of the looks on everyone's faces. "Look, I wanted to tell you. Really. But you all thought he was dead! How was I supposed to just come out and say you were all wrong? Tadashi couldn't come home yet. And it wasn't my story to tell, it was his. I never spoke with him directly, but I know he wanted to explain things himself."

The others just stared at her for a minute. Finally, GoGo took a deep breath and nodded. "All right. We'll let Tadashi speak for himself. Let's go after them."

"But wait," Wasabi said, "Hiro took Baymax with him! We're stranded on this island."

"Oh, oh!" Fred cried, "I've got it! Heathcliff can pick us up in my parents' helicopter!"

Wasabi gave him an incredulous look. "They have a helicopter. Of course they do."

"Well, come on. Don't waste any time." GoGo urged. "We've got a friend to find."

 _She's right._ Honey thought, nodding to herself. _We've been apart for way too long._

* * *

Hiro admitted it freely, when the stranger—when _Tadashi_ —finally took off his helmet, he began to cry. He couldn't move, couldn't even speak for a minute, because the entire world had just been yanked out from under his feet. Baymax had been right, Tadashi _was_ here.

When Hiro didn't say anything, Tadashi's nervous expression was replaced with concern. "Hiro? You okay?"

"Tadashi." Hiro whispered, hardly daring to believe it. His brother smiled hesitantly and nodded.

"Yeah. It's me."

" _Tadashi!_ " Hiro cried again, and ran at him. Tadashi stumbled back a bit when Hiro crashed into him, but he returned the hug. Hiro held him tight, because he never thought he'd have this chance again. His brother was here…Tadashi was home!

"Hey, hey, it's all right." Tadashi patted Hiro on the back, then let out a relieved laugh. "I'm home. It's okay now."

Hiro looked up at him, still scarcely able to believe it. "You're here. You're alive. Is this…is this even real? What _happened?_ Where have you been?"

Tadashi smiled sadly and shrugged. "It's real all right. As for what's happened since then…it's kind of complicated."

"It's been almost a month!" Hiro yelled, and pushed Tadashi away. "Screw complicated! Where the hell have you been? I thought you were _dead!_ "

Shame dominated Tadashi's features and he looked down at the ground. "I wanted to come back. I really did, but at first I couldn't even get up. After that, well…"

"Well, what?" Hiro demanded, "You could have called, or e-mailed, or _something!_ But no, you have to disappear for _weeks!_ Do you have any idea how hard that was for me? For everyone?"

Out of nowhere, someone's hand appeared and slapped Hiro in the face. Hard. "Cut it out!" Bringing a hand to his stinging cheek, Hiro turned to the person who'd struck him.

It was the black-armored boy. He'd taken off his helmet and was giving Hiro the look of someone who'd had their patience stretched way too thin. "You think you're the only one who's had a rough time? Kill the petty excuses and just let him explain himself!"

The blonde archer put a hand on his shoulder. "Nico. Calm down." He said quietly, before looking to Hiro. "Sorry. Lots of us have been through pretty rough stuff, but Nico more than most. So he kind of has a thing about sticking with family."

"Guys, it's all right." Tadashi said, regret obvious in his voice. He took a deep breath, then looked back up at Hiro. "I know I have a lot of explaining to do. But let's start with introductions, all right?"

"I'm Will Solace!" The archer said, brightness a bit forced. "Son of Apollo."

"Nico di Angelo." The black-armored boy said. Now that Hiro was looking at him more carefully, he realized that this boy really couldn't be any older than he was. And with the black hair and brown eyes, they could probably pass for cousins or something. "Son of Hades."

Hiro nodded slowly. "So you've been hanging out with demigods? How'd that happen?"

"Well, you remember that kid Leo who appeared in the Iris-message?" Tadashi asked. Though Hiro didn't really know what an Iris-message _was_ , he nodded. It was kind of hard to forget a talking cloud of mist appearing right in front of him. "He saved my life. He was there on the night of the showcase, and he got me out of the fire. I was pretty banged up, so he and his girlfriend took me to their, uh, home. Camp Half-Blood."

Hiro's eyebrows drew together. "Wait. Honey Lemon told us about that place. It's only for demigods. What were you doing there?"

Tadashi just waited, probably wanting Hiro to make the connection. _My brother was at a demigod camp…_ Suddenly, he remembered the fire that the stranger—that _Tadashi_ had used to fight the monsters. Unless his armor was super tech like Hiro's, it couldn't be a human ability. "You can't be one of them!" Hiro gasped. Tadashi just shrugged and held out one hand. An orange ball of flame flickered to life for a minute before disappearing. "But you're human. We're brothers."

"We have both the same parents." Tadashi nodded. "Hikari Hamada was our mother. And our dad…or dad is Hephaestus, Greek god of blacksmiths and fire."

"What the _hell_?" Hiro cried.

Tadashi chuckled. "That was pretty much my reaction."

"Mine too." Will put in helpfully. "But Nico just fangirled at everything." The younger demigod growled at this remark, and Hiro gave him a skeptical look. _A guy like that getting all excited? Not possible…well, maybe. Considering how much of a dweeb I was when I was little, anything's possible._ "But how is that possible? When Honey told us about demigods she said that most of them get attacked by monsters all the time. And how come you never noticed the fire power before?"

"That's new." Tadashi explained, looking a bit uncomfortable. "It's complicated, but it's rare. Something more common would be what you can do."

"What I can do? What, being smart?"

Tadashi shook his head. "Technopathy. You're not just good with machines, you can control them. Like you did with Baymax's chip earlier. And some demigods never discover what they really are. It doesn't happen often, but considering the city we grew up in it's not that surprising."

Hiro remembered Honey Lemon saying something about San Fransokyo's high level of tech confusing monsters. And the thing with Baymax's chip…yeah, that wasn't normal. _I could see the monsters too, when we were being chased._ "So, we're demigods. Okay…and we have an entire army of monsters hanging around the city, not to mention your psychotic ex-professor. What do we do now?"

"Call for reinforcements." A female voice said from behind. Hiro and the others turned to see Honey Lemon and the rest of the group standing in the garage doorway. Honey's eyes went to Tadashi, and Hiro swore she got a happier expression than she'd had in weeks. GoGo, Wasabi, and Fred all gave a little jolt of surprise when they saw him, but nothing like Hiro's reaction happened. _What happened after_ _I left them? Wait…I left them! How'd they get off the island?_

"Guys…I'm sorry, I…"

"We're going to catch Callaghan." GoGo said, and offered a rare smile. "And we'll stop his monsters together."

"So maybe don't leave your team stranded on a spooky island next time?" Wasabi asked lightly.

Hiro blushed. "I didn't mean to—"

"Oh, it's all right." Fred shrugged. "Heathcliff picked us up in the family chopper. And Honey explained things, too."

"Now that that's out of the way…" Honey Lemon grinned and let out a delighted laugh, then ran at Tadashi and hugged him. "It's so good to see you again!"

The rest of the team followed suit, until Tadashi was at the center of a big group hug. Hiro joined in too, and after a minute even Baymax did. Nico just watched, and Will might have been laughing at them. But Hiro didn't really care.

His big brother was home. His friends were all here. And even if they had to go up against an entire army of monsters, they'd be fine.

Because they were all together.

* * *

Leo waved his hand through the Iris-message, feeling super embarrassed. _I probably just made things ridiculously awkward for him…but I can't worry about that now! If it's true about all those monsters he needs backup as soon as possible._ Leo threw open the door of the bathroom (he'd been using the shower's steam for his message) and raced into the main part of the Hephaestus cabin. Leo grabbed a walkie-talkie from where it lay on his bed and used it to call the rest of his siblings. "Call off the search and come back to base! I know where he is!"

When he and the rest of Cabin Nine had realized Tadashi was missing, they'd split up into four groups. Three to roam the camp, and Leo left behind to try and contact him. The rest of the campers had been left alone, because it wasn't the first time a half-blood had taken a midnight stroll. And even if that was all it had been, there were still monsters in the woods and harpies roaming the grounds. So of course they'd been a bit on edge.

"Rodger!"

"Gotcha!"

"We're on our way!" Came the replies from the group leaders. No more than five minutes later Leo was surrounded by his anxious looking brothers and sisters.

"So?" Nyssa asked, "Where in Hades did he go?"

"Our big brother decided to take a surprise cross-country trip." Leo said with false brightness. At everyone's confused looks, he added, "Tadashi had another dream. I don't know the details, but something bad was about to happen. He got up, Nico saw him leaving, and so long story short the two of them and Will Solace are in San Fransokyo. Oh, and there may or may not be an army of monsters getting ready to wreak havoc on the city."

If this was a cartoon, Leo was pretty sure the entire cabin would have sweatdropped. As it was, they had to make do with several annoyed groans and more than a few curse words. "I know, I know. He's being a reckless idiot. But we're demigods, so that pretty much defines us."

"So what are we going to do?" Jake asked, "I know three is the normal quest group, but if there's really an _army_ of monsters they probably need help."

Yet again, the words were met with uncomfortable grumbles. Sure, the Hephaestus cabin was strong and brave and many of them were more than confident on the battlefield, but they weren't front-line fighters. Not to mention the fact that in a situation such as this, the only mode of transportation that even had a chance of getting them there on time were the pegasi. And Leo knew full well that his siblings preferred machines over animals any day. Still, the decision fell to him.

"He's our brother." Leo said, "And he needs our help. Now, I could take a couple others and go on Festus, but it would be better if whatever group we decided on could all leave at the same time…"

"Just get the rest of the Seven to go with you." Jake suggested, "Gods know you all have enough battle experience, and from all the war stories I've heard thinking on your feet became second nature."

Leo shook his head. "Tadashi is our brother. I shouldn't be the only one who—"

"Just _do_ it, dragon boy." Shane rolled his eyes. "Sure we don't like staying behind, but you guys are probably the best team that Camp Half-Blood can throw together."

 _Are they really okay with that?_ Leo wondered, looking at the faces of each of his siblings. Lots of them were nodding, and even the ones that seemed a little disappointed looked like they supported Jake's idea. _I guess he's right._ Leo nodded. "Okay, this is how it'll go down. Shane, you run down to the Big House to wake Calypso and Chiron. I'll get Jason. Harley, go into the Aphrodite cabin and try to get Piper without waking anyone else up. Jake, you do the same for Frank in the Ares cabin. Chris, you're in charge of Percy and Annabeth since I'm pretty sure she's been sneaking into the Poseidon cabin. Nyssa, you wake Hazel up. Tell everyone to meet up at the Pegasus stables, and make sure they come armed. We don't have time for any kind of war council. The rest of you…I don't know, just meet us there too! Now, go!"

Leo's siblings scattered for the second time that night. Leo himself made straight for Cabin One. He knew that he should try to avoid waking up the rest of the camp, so he refrained from kicking open the door. Inside there was a constant rumbling, and Leo wasn't sure if it was just the cabin being as obnoxious as the god it represented or Jason snoring.

The blond demigod had wedged a bed in the very back of the cabin, out of the giant Zeus statue's view. Leo ran up to him and shook his shoulder.

"Yo, Jason! Wake up!" Leo whispered. "Come on, Superman, this is serious!"

Jason groaned, but he sat up and opened his eyes. When he spotted Leo, his expression became a mix of confusion and annoyance. "Leo, what are you doing in my cabin? It's the middle of the night!"

"Technically speaking, no it isn't. It's one in the morning." Leo gave his friend a sly smile, but then went back to serious mode. "Come on, you need to get up. Grab your sword and whatever else you need to cause some havoc. We have a mission to go on."

Jason narrowed his eyes, but he nodded. He got out of bed, and as he put his clothes on he asked, "What's the problem? Where are we going?"

"San Fransokyo." Leo answered, "And Tadashi."

"Monster horde finally getting out of control, then? Where is he now?"

"See, the thing is, he's kind of already there. We noticed he wasn't in the cabin and when I called he was in the city with Nico and Will. From the looks of it they'd already been in a fight."

"Of course. Why would he think to ask for help?" Jason rolled his eyes and put his gold glasses on. _They only make him seem like more of a Superman wannabe._ Leo thought to himself. "Well, where to, Repair Boy?"

"The armory to pick up a few toys, and then the Pegasus stables. I sent my siblings to get everyone else and told them to meet us there." Jason nodded, and together the two boys raced out of the Zeus cabin.

As they made their way towards the armory Piper turned up, and after another minute Frank came running up behind them. Hazel caught up with their group when they were halfway there.

"So I'm guessing that 'others' means the rest of the seven?" Jason asked when their group of five entered the armory. "What about the rest of your siblings? And Calypso?"

"I sent Harley to get her and tell Chiron what's happening." Leo answered, scanning the rows of spare weapons for something useful. When he caught sight of a trunk at the back of the room he grinned and ran for it. "As for the rest of Cabin Nine, they decided to stay put. They want to help, but…"

"They aren't front-line fighters." Piper finished. "Leo, what is in that box?"

"Please tell me it won't blow up in our faces." A voice requested from behind, and Leo turned to find that Percy and Annabeth had joined them. Since the armory was in between the cabins and the stables, they must have noticed that there were people inside. "Because that would just ruin everyone's day." Percy said.

Leo looked back at the trunk he was sifting through, and the few items he'd already taken out of it. "Dude, this box is filled with explosives. But not for us, for the monsters."

"The army of monsters that Tadashi ran off to confront." Annabeth said, sounding a little annoyed. "Excellent."

 _Jeez, she could be a little more excited._ Leo thought. He'd gotten what he needed out of the old trunk, so he closed it then stood up and turned around to face his friends. "Come on, the seven of us together again, kicking some scaly monster butt and being generally awesome? If you guys keep being so negative I might be tempted to keep these to myself." Leo held out a large bag in one hand, and what at first glance looked like a bundle of sticks in the other.

"What is that?" Hazel asked. "Are those arrows?"

"Right you are! Frank, catch!" Leo tossed the bundle of arrows to the big Roman, and he fumbled a bit trying to catch them. "Explosive arrows. I know you have some already, but these have Celestial Bronze mixed in. They'll vaporize any monster caught in the blast. And for the rest of us…" Leo opened the bag, feeling like a pyromaniac Santa Claus. He fished out one of the things inside it and held it up for the others to see. "Mini Greek Fire bombs! Shane designed them. Just throw them, and with enough force they'll detonate. They're a bit too destructive for regular use, so we haven't been using them in Capture the Flag. But they should do a nice job of either distracting the monsters or making them go boom. I've got some smoke bombs here too."

"You really think we'll need all these?" Jason asked as Leo was passing around the explosives. "It seems like overkill."

Leo shrugged. "As long as it's a kill. We don't know exactly what we're up against, so we can't be too careful. And besides, who doesn't love a good old explosion?" All of Leo's friends groaned, but he laughed in response. "You're all such downers. Well, we'd better armor up. Just remember we need to move fast."

The seven ransacked the armory, grabbing whatever pieces of equipment that suited them. Leo made sure to grab some things for Calypso, too. As soon as they all were ready they charged outside to the Pegasus stables.

It looked like a small crowd was waiting outside. The group turned out to be made of most of Leo's siblings, Calypso, and Chiron. The old centaur nodded at them gravely when they met. "I've been informed of the situation. Normally I wouldn't allow a group out so suddenly, but under the circumstances this seems to be the only choice."

"Are we taking Festus?" Calypso asked. She'd pulled her hair back and her sword was strapped to her hip.

Leo nodded, quickly fishing a remote out of his pocket. Since Festus usually hung out in the woods, Leo had designed a way to call for him if he needed to. He pressed the red button and addressed the group. "Tadashi's gotten himself into a whole lot of trouble. So we're going to get him out!"

All of a sudden, Hazel let out a loud whistle. When pretty much everyone looked at her to ask what it was about, she just shrugged and gave Leo a small smile. "You're not the only one with special transportation. Arion will be here in a minute."

"That reminds me, I have Tempest!" Jason exclaimed. He shut his eyes and got a really focused expression for a minute, then looked back at the rest of them and smiled. "One storm spirit on his way."

 _I came up with the brilliant plan to meet up here and nobody is even going to ride a Pegasus? What the heck?_ Leo thought indignantly. Just as the words crossed his mind there was the faint hum of wings, a crack of thunder, and the sound of rapidly approaching hooves. Festus appeared in the night sky and landed just as a very temperamental tan horse appeared next to Hazel and a bank of storm clouds formed next to Jason. "I…I guess we'll go in pairs then. You have that black Pegasus, right, Percy?"

The son of Poseidon nodded. He ran inside the stable, then came out a second later leading a magnificent animal that looked three kinds of ticked off. "I don't want to go on a cross country trip in the middle of the night either, but we have to!" Percy told the horse. "And if you stop complaining I'll get you donuts when we're done. Sorry, guys. He wasn't too happy I woke him up."

"I urge you all to be careful." Chiron advised as everyone started to get on their rides. "Remember, there may or may not be goddesses involved in this plot. Don't let your guard down!"

"Oh, we'd _never!_ " Leo said sarcastically as he climbed up Festus. Calypso got on the dragon express too, and sat right behind him. "We're all about forethought and planning, right, guys?"

"You're a spastic pyromaniac!" One of Leo's siblings called, and Leo cackled.

"We _should_ have some sort of a plan, though." Annabeth decided. "Let's meet up just before we reach the city and make sure we know what we're running into."

"Rodger that, Owl Face!" Leo saluted Annabeth, then took hold of Festus's controls. "Everyone ready? Let's go kick some monster butt!"

With a mix of cheers and tired laughter—adventure or not, it _was_ the middle of the night—the group of eight began to take off. Arion disappeared in a flash, and Tempest galloped away with a surge of thunder. Blackjack then took to the sky, with Festus following right behind.

"If you die again we'll kill you!" Nyssa yelled from below. "Go get him!"

Leo laughed like a maniac as Festus rose into the sky. Here he was, flying off on a giant metal dragon in the middle of the night, racing towards a battle that was most likely going to be very big and very dangerous. _Gotta love demigod life!_

Leo wouldn't change it for the world **.**

 **Woohoo, return of the sassy Leo! I'm sure you all missed him. So the cavalry is coming, Big Hero 6! Let's hope nothing bad happens before they get there. (Even I don't know, I haven't written it yet!) And as for Hiro's reaction I felt like anger and relief would be a pretty good mix. It was the moment you were all waiting for, so let me know what you thought of it in a nice review!**


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